Bernache the old vintner smiled and hummed to himself as he sharpened his tools by candlelight in the wine cellar. Spring was here with a vengeance, and he had arms and legs to do the work he was born to do. Being a wine press for ten years had certain advantages at harvest time, as the grapes could go straight from vine to press as he tottered up and down the vineyard rows. But in winter it was inconvenient and in spring it was downright annoying to try to do the small, fine tasks that made the difference in the final product.

There was a knock at the door at the top of the stairs. Bernache knew who it would be and was pleased, but he walked to the door as deliberately as he did everything else. Adam and Belle were smiling as he opened the door to him. "Bernache, my good man! Why did you not join us for dinner?" Adam hoped it wasn't because he had made fun of Bernache's dirty canvas apron full of tools a dozen years ago, but the vintner's mind was so full of his vocation that it had no room for grudges.

"Well, you know, Master Adam, I never was one for large crowds and loud parties... it certainly sounded like all were enjoying themselves. And the truth is, when the weather turns like this, all I can think about is getting out among the vines, which I hope to do first thing in the morning."

"Oh, I wish you had come along," said Belle earnestly. "My father was very impressed with your wine, and all the others said that it was the best you had ever bottled."

"Of course, that would be the impression they would have after not being able to drink a drop for ten years." Bernache bowed at the compliment all the same.

"Well, I have," said Adam, "and I owe you ten years' worth of compliments. You are at the top of your form right now."

"Maybe that's not such a good thing." Bernache smirked a bit. "We have a bit of a backlog."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, sir, you have been the only wine drinker for a long time, and the vines have continued to produce, and I do hate to waste..." Bernache lit a torch with the candle and moved to a door. "Perhaps you ought to see this."

He opened the door to another wine cellar, one Adam had not known about. Adam and Belle saw the shelves of wine bottles on their sides, a dozen high on either side of the room. They stayed by the door as Bernache deliberately ambled along the room, getting further and further from them, yet still wine bottles lined the walls. "Does it end?" gasped Belle.

Bernache turned and smiled softly. "Oh yes, it only runs the length of this wing of the chateau. But I must say I was starting to worry, since we've only room for about a hundred new bottles now. Odd, though, how the bottles and corks never seemed to run out."

"The Enchantress's gift," said Adam. "But why? You can't live on wine. I think I tried to once, and it ended badly."

"Or can you?" Belle's remark got a shocked stare from Adam. "No, not drinking it, selling it! Adam, you said earlier that you might find yourself to be a farmer. What if you were running a vineyard?"

Adam's eyes grew wide. He turned to the old vintner, who had rejoined them. "Bernache, you may have saved us all! Would you be willing to take on a pupil in the art of growing wine?"

"That I would, Master Adam. Though we have all gotten a ten-year reprieve, I am still not getting younger, and the vines will need caring for a long time. But I should warn you it takes hard work... and patience."

Adam started sharply, "What does that-" and stopped when Belle kicked his leg. "I mean yes. That is something I need to work on. It will probably be a good exercise."

"We may need another wine cellar, though, unless we can find homes for some of this stock."

Belle saw an odd expression on Adam's face. She smiled as she realized he had some sort of idea and was thinking it through. She waited quietly. Bernache always waited quietly.

"Bernache, I wish to start in the morning to find the Duc and Duchesse and bring them home. May I take some of these bottles to try to do business with some merchants on the way? That will help pay for my trip."

"Take some bottles, well, let us see." Bernache walked a few paces back down the hall of the cellar, turned back, and opened his arms wide, lighting the seemingly endless vista of bottles. "I'll just need to see if I can spare a few." He smiled infrequenly and joked rarely, but now he was grinning from ear to ear.