Summary

• Carter wins back Valentina by coming clean about his identity and showing genuine remorse for his actions.
• Carter and Valentina's romance develops as she sees him bond with her kids, leading to them expressing their feelings at a wine-tasting event.
• Carter's fake identity includes elements of truth, such as his knowledge of wine, but his cover could have been blown due to his expertise.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Holiday in the Vineyards.

The Netflix movie Holiday in the Vineyards tells a cute romance story with a fun-to-watch ending. Holiday in the Vineyards follows Carter Baldwyn, the son and heir of Baldwyn Wines, who gets sent to Los Santos on business. The only vineyard Baldwyn Wines doesn’t own, Huckabee Vineyard, is going up for sale. However, the company isn’t the only interested party. Margo Baldwyn sends her son to scout out the competition.

When Carter arrives in Los Santos, he meets Valentina Espinoza, the realtor for the vineyard and single mother of two. After lying about his identity and job, Carter gets roped into living in Valentina’s guest house in exchange for renovating the building. His secret mission gets complicated as he falls for Valentina and the local wine culture. This culminates in a sweet and cheesy ending to Holiday in the Vineyards which would fit in with the best Hallmark movies.

How Does Carter Win Back Valentina?

After Baldwyn Wines buys the Huckabee Vineyard out from underneath the collective in Holiday in the Vineyards, Carter comes clean to everyone about who he is and what he did. This creates a rift between him and Valentina because she starts questioning every interaction she and her sons have with the fake carpenter. Though Carter hurts Moe, the local decides to forgive Carter – minus a punch to the gut – since he comes clean and shows genuine remorse for his actions.

In order to fix his mistake, Carter creates a diabolical plan to force Baldwyn Wines to partner with the Los Santos winemakers. He enlists Moe and Cindy’s help to make everything go smoothly. Cindy also brings Valentina to the holiday party where everything is going down. Ultimately, Valentina forgives Carter after seeing how much effort he puts in to save the Los Santos artisans. This shows her the truth in his words about wishing he could reverse everything.

How Carter And Valentina’s Romance Develops

As a widow with two kids, Valentina is extremely guarded when it comes to falling in love throughout Holiday in the Vineyard. While she finds herself physically attracted to Carter, she tries to suppress her feelings. The change in their dynamic comes after Valentina sees Carter interacting with her kids, Santiago and Fernando. Initially, she thinks he has kids because he’s so good with the boys. She becomes more vulnerable and open to Carter as she sees him continuing to bond with both kids, but especially Santiago. Eventually, they both express their feelings when Moe and Cindy set them up on a date at the local wine–tasting event.

On the other side, Carter develops an attraction to Valentina almost immediately. He struggles to balance this with her usefulness as Huckabee Vineyard’s realtor. The small moments of moving boxes and teaching her to taste wine allow him to fall for her completely. This and his new appreciation for Los Santos’ wine culture make him question his choices, a throughline in the second half of Holiday in the Vineyard.

Carter’s Fake Identity Explained

When Carter gets to Los Santos, he has to make up a fake identity to keep a low profile; however, his story frequently changes, making it difficult to follow. Carter says his last name is Goodman instead of Baldwyn. He claims he’s in Los Santos because he’s looking to move there from the big city. When asked about his job, Carter panics and says he’s a carpenter. He pulls this detail from the conversation he just had with Valentina’s kids about Jesus.

All of these initial details are fake, but he eventually integrates real parts of his life. He tells Santiago and Fernando that his father died, which is true. He also reveals to them his interest in skateboarding, snowboarding, and skiing. Unlike his demeanor with others, he’s more honest with the children because he sees himself in them.

Interestingly, the biggest true element that he includes in his fake identity is his knowledge of wine. He reveals that he’s a wine snob to Moe and Valentina, showing off his wine-tasting skills. Despite being from out of town, nobody ever asks how he knows so much about wine. This is probably because of the wine culture in Los Santos. Still, this part of his fake identity could have blown his cover.

Who Is The Other Party Interested In Huckabee Vineyard?

In Holiday in the Vineyards, Baldwyn Wines knows that there’s a competitor who’s interested in purchasing Huckabee Vineyard. When he gets to Los Santos, Carter learns that the competitor is a collective. None of the local winemakers can afford the property, so they pool their money together to purchase Huckabee Vineyard. This would allow them all to continue using the grapes from Los Santos and the fermenting facilities. Without these supplies, the artisan winemakers would be forced to shut down all productions or move them into their garages.

Unfortunately, the collective has extremely limited resources – a weakness that Baldwyn Wines takes advantage of. The corporation offers just above what the collective can pay, and they put in their bid at the last minute to prevent the competitors from pooling together more money. This shows Baldwyn Wines's and Margo Baldwyn's depravity in Holiday in the Vineyards. Their actions have zero moral integrity. They may be smart, but they have zero regard for the people of Los Santos.

Why Does Margo Send Carter To Los Santos?

Holiday in the Vineyards starts with Margo sending Carter to Los Santos to help the Baldwyn Wines buy the Huckabee Vinyard. This is the only vineyard in the area that the company doesn’t own. In order to obtain the vineyard, she wants him to find information on the competitor so that Baldwyn can swoop in and offer a higher bid.

While this is the most apparent purpose of the trip in Holiday in the Vineyards, there are other purposes for the trip too. From the start, Carter is an irresponsible party boy who lives off his family without providing much benefit. Margo sends Carter to Los Santos so that he can become serious, mature, and productive. She wants him to prove that he’s capable of stepping up; however, her plan backfires when Carter does all these things in his own way rather than staying subservient to her wishes.

The True Meaning Of Holiday In The Vineyards’ Ending

The ending of Holiday in the Vineyards might focus on Valentina and Carter’s romance, but the true message comes from the relationship between Carter and the Los Santos winemakers. Carter learns that sometimes the best things come from the most unlikely places. The artisans may not have their wine on shelves, but this has nothing to do with the quality. Instead, they simply don’t have the resources and appreciation to gain mainstream attention.

Additionally, Holiday in the Vineyards makes it clear that the best way to fix a mistake is through honesty and contrition. Both of these steps were necessary for Carter to redeem himself. Moe gave him credit for coming clean after the fact; however, he needed to put words into action to fully atone for what he did. Ultimately, Carter must give back to the community he hurt in Holiday in the Vineyards to be fully forgiven.