Sol y viento (Episodio 3) : Jaime Plays Hardball

Prólogo, Episodio 1, Episodio 2, Episodio 4, Episodio 5, Episodio 6,Episodio 7, Episodio 8, Episodio 9

As the episode begins, Jaime journeys into his inner child (un recuerdo lejano) as he stares off into the muy, muy lindo Valle del Maipo. Leave it to working-class hero Mario to wake him from his dreams of childhood and work in the wine-producing regions of California: ¿Se sienta bien, don Jaime? It’s time to get down to business at Sol y viento winery, where there’s perhaps a taste for Mario, a lover of Chilean wine: ¡Conozco los vinos! And yes, the accompanying chapter does introduce c to zc irregular verbs. How did you guess?

At the winery we see el jefe Carlos Sánchez in action, and he’s a piece of work. Hey, has anyone else noticed that Carlos and María both have the same last name? Crazy coincidence I suppose. I imagine most folks in Chile have the last name Sánchez, ¿no? Anyway, don Carlos jumps on pobre Traimaqueo (the foreman of the winery) over nothing, then treats the man like a slave before trying to stall Jaime and riding off on his high horse. But Jaime has the old boy’s number. Over a glass of merlot, Jaime tells Carlos how it is: la venta has to go down in the next couple of days. No sweat, says Carlos, my mother is old and my sister (sister?) has no interest in the wine business. And for me, the whole thing is too much work. Of course, sis and mom are in Santiago, so it’s going to take a couple of days. Jaime doesn’t buy it. No me voy sin un contrato firmado. So get going, don Carlos. Oh, and I’m taking a tour of winery. Is it just me, or is Jaime Talavera a soulless corporate slug in negotiations? I guess that spiritual epiphany I’m waiting for from him is going to take at least one more episode of the edu-drama that could only be known as Sol y viento.