Archives des grand crus - Blog World Grands Crus

Does mechanical soil labor, have an influence on the wine?

guru — Thu, 25 Sep 2014 08:39:00 +0000

Laboring the soil is essential to the vine’s well being. It helps in eliminating weeds and grasses around the vine’s base, aerate the ground, help water to penetrate but above all promote life in the soil. All these elements are necessary for the vine’s well being, and good soil management will certainly enhance the wine’s quality and the “terroir’s” identity.

The use of pesticides and weed-killers, will, on the contrary, destroy the microorganisms living in the soil making it poorer. The vine will not be able to “feed” itself correctly, affecting directly the grape and hence the wine itself.
The evolution of techniques and equipment has helped the wine maker to maintain his vineyards, and to labor his soil with more simplicity. However, is mechanized labor as efficient as it’s laid out to be?
A century back, tractors didn’t exist, and the plough horse was the main actor in laboring the vineyards.
Nowadays, the tractor has taken over for a majority of the vineyards, allowing the winemaker to gain time on the vineyard’s maintenance.
Certain domains such as Romanée Conti, the horse remains and is the unique means of working the land. The horse tramples the soil and increases the soil’s aeration, without necessarily flattening the ground and this at a great depth, whilst the tractor just with it’s weight and huge wheels, will compact and flatten the soil.
Certain scientists are affirmative, that soil labor will not affect the quality of the grape or the vine, but on the contrary, it would upset more the fragile equilibrium within it.

So, who is right or wrong?

I still think that soil labor is necessary, but in a traditional manner and not mechanically. Otherwise, how can one explain that wines produced by Romanée Conti, maintain themselves amongst the best wines in the world without their horses?
Let’s leave to industrial wines mechanized ploughing, in order to achieve quantity, and leave traditional ploughing for the quality of Grand Crus.
Therefore, dear scientists, shed your white lab coat, leave the laboratory in order to spend more time in the middle of vineyards, with the men and women who make the wine. Your research will probably be less hypothetic and moreover, verifiable.

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Auction: an exceptional lot of Romanée Conti

guru — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 05:00:18 +0000

Auctions have the means of shaking up collectors nerves. In the following months, auctions presenting exceptional lots such as a collection of 114 Romanée Conti bottles are going to be on the market!

Sotheby’s is organizing an auction in Hong Kong on the 4^th of October of this year, in which this fabulous lot of 114 bottles of Romanée Conti, as well as a private collection of Gran Crus, from Netscape’s founder, Jim Clark, containing a lot of Henri Jayer magnums.
This auction should move the great collectors and Burgundy amateurs in all of Asia. Of the 778 lots proposed, 40% will be represented by Burgundies, weighing for more than 70% of the total value, that’s estimated at in between 4,5 and 6,7 million dollars.

A lot of 114 bottles of Romanée Conti is a unique event, probably in one’s lifetime. This auction should leave it’s mark for years to come.

Acker, Merall Condit’s are organizing an auction in New York on the 6th of September. Again, Bordeaux and Burgundy Grand crus, will have collectors drooling. Such as a vertical of Châteu Lafite, or a lot of 5 “millésimes” from DRC Richebourg, from 1990 and 2006.

Fine and rare wine auctions, are continuously growing, reaching more amateurs and collectors from all over the world.

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When China awakes… the world shall tremble

guru — Sat, 26 Apr 2014 07:00:10 +0000

In 1973, Alan Peyrefitte, a French journalist, following his return from a trip to China, wrote a book with the above mentioned title, originally attributed to Napoleon in 1816.
Bothe Napoleon as well as Peyreffite where visionaries, and where perfectly right, but not listened to, for China has awakened.
Whatever field we are looking at, China is ominously present, her objective being in the middle of the twenty first century, the world leadership, and this is well on its way.
This month of March 2014, the French government was congratulating itself with the signature of an 18 billion Euro contract with China, aeronautical, automobile, nuclear energy, finance, environment, health, everything is on the table and the government prides itself on the consolidation of the French-Chinese partnership!
The technological transfer is Chinas ultimate target, which, in less than thirty years, won’t need to import a single thing from the rest of the world…
But the worst of all this, it’s when our Chinese friends, which nevertheless, remain our friends, take roots in our territory, they will not need to invade Europe in the next few decades, since they will already be in place, gently without a weapon and under the applause of complacent governments!
As far as we are concerned, us, amateurs of wines and Grand Crus, we deplore the loss of our heritage. Event though we are happy with the annual increase of our wine exports towards China, excepting this year, we willingly close our eyes on the hidden part of the iceberg. Over the last 5 years Chinese investors have bought out 75 properties in the Bordeaux region.
But this is also true for the Burgundy, Loire, Cotes du Rhone, Provence regions, only the Champagne vineyards are resisting the invasion, but for how long?
The icing on the cake arrived on March the 21^st of March, when China renounced on its antidumping investigation of French wines imports. A great sigh of relief blew over wine exporters, but what’s the price to pay? The highest one, since European firms have to give China technical assistance on equipment, materials and all its agricultural and wine making know-how.
Some wine professionals are happy with this agreement, seeing in it a potential increase in wine exports, but they seem to ignore the figures or are closing knowingly their eyes, since wine sales to China have declined, and will continue to decline little by little each year.
Being on the offensive, China could be the sixth world wine producer in 2016 and in 2030 she shall be the… all that will be left for us to export will be our Grand Crus, for I hope, that in this domain we shall never be caught up.

It is time for France to wake up, before becoming a new Chinese province.

L’article When China awakes… the world shall tremble est apparu en premier sur Blog World Grands Crus.

The primeurs Grands Crus of 2013 from Bordeaux

guru — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 07:00:54 +0000

The 31^stof March, the begining of the 2013 primeurs campaign will be starting off.
Owners, oenologists, critics, consultants and wine importers will all be reunited together in the beautiful city of Bordeaux.
After an 18% fall in sales to china in 2013, this 2013 will have been the smallest harvest in the Bordeaux region since 1991. Mister Olivier Bernard, president of the union of Grand crus, has announced a half harvest and even less in some cases.

For a certain number of persons, 2013 should be a good vintage, having had a cold rainy spring season, hailstorms in summer and the harvest, disturbed by the bad weather. Nevertheless this vintage should be satisfactory, low in alcohol levels as well as presenting altogether a well-balanced wine.
But for others, due to an insufficient quality, the harvest will not be issued under their labels.
Robert Parker will not give his notes until later, this will perhaps bring everyone back to the real quality for price concepts!
On the world market, mainly Americans and Chinese have declared in not being interested by this vintage. Bluff or real intentions, the result should be apparent very quickly through the prices.
Some owners have already offered their wines to merchants, without waiting for the notes, preferring to play on the timing, and playing the European market card.
Corridor gossip or should one say, gossip from the Garonne riverside docks, announce a price reduction of 20 to 30%
Stay tuned.
The Bordeaux wine region is a bit like the French « Dallas » with its merciless universe…

L’article The primeurs Grands Crus of 2013 from Bordeaux est apparu en premier sur Blog World Grands Crus.