Roger, Godfrey and Pippa had spent every spare hour with me in the vineyard. The vines were rampant at the moment now summer was in full swing; leaves were green and lush and new shoots seemed to appear overnight, stretching across the rows to try to join tendrils with the vines opposite. It was a constant battle to keep them in check. The grapes were still in tight green bunches but so far we hadn’t lost any to bad weather or disease. We’d had only the teensiest bit of mildew and that had been in the lower area nearest the stream which ran along the bottom of the property. Thanks to a quick response from Roger, we’d nipped the rot in the bud by treating the affected vines with bicarbonate of soda.

The trio weren’t just vineyard focused; they’d each got their marketing talents too. Godfrey had exploited all his old newspaper contacts, sending out a press invitation along with the promise of a free bottle of fizz to any journalist who turned up. Pippa had printed the event details on bookmarks and put one inside every book that was checked out at the library. Roger had come up trumps too. At his school’s Sports Day, he’d grabbed the loud hailer from the head teacher and told all the parents to come along. What’s more, he’d persuaded a group of boys from the first-eleven cricket team to act as car-park stewards for us on the day.

Only Jensen hadn’t been involved with our preparations, although to give him his due, he had spoken to the bank on Betsy’s behalf and arranged for a temporary extension on the overdraft. And, as he explained to me on the phone one day, his company was involved in the biggest pitch in its history and he couldn’t get away but he promised to be with us on the day.

And now it was the evening before the Butterworth Wines open day. The sky was blue and cloudless and the sun to the west was beginning to sink, bathing the tops of the vines in honeyed light. The volunteers had gone home exhausted and excited for tomorrow and Betsy was inside watching the television at full volume. She said it helped to have it up loud: it compensated a little bit for not being able to see much of it.