Report from Paris: The little red liters
Wine Stories , Feature - May 1, 2008
"And the light came the world of light and good taste." This statement surprised messianic on the website of a classic Bordeaux. Moreover if we consider that instead of a photo of a house of quality, are a golden dragons.
By Camilla Panhard
Is that the Château Laguens, "wine-bordeaux bordeaux superior," which despite its appeal is of average quality, destination reached a pioneer and Chinese vineyards in French territory. The first thing he did Longhai International Trading Company at the end of the transaction of 1.68 million, was to design a new website which tells the story of the château in French although the orders and contacts are made in Chinese, most revealing evidence of the situation of both countries in the world economic map.
The site, misspelled, it looks cheesy. He feels it was done in no time following the ideology of unbridled capitalism. Navigating one enters into a nightmare eighties where the towers are erected as phalluses and wine glass accessory fetish acts for the entrepreneur who makes a toast to their future earnings: "The 160 thousand bottles of Bordeaux vineyard Château produces Laguens are designed to feed a palace wine of 2700 m². This same building will host the ceremonies of the Summer Olympic Games 2008. Tsingdao, the city where the ceremonies will take place no longer brewing city but Mecca of wine "...
All these projects are coming true thanks to the unconditional support of the Chinese government. This has just opened a school of winemaking with more students than all the French oenological institutes gathered, were created jobs as educators to make wine in legions of Chinese gentleman, television campaigns are financed by appealing to traditional medicine to emphasize that the Wine is good for health ... and foreign surveys are followed by the wave with the prediction that China will be the eighth largest consumer of wine in 2012.
The bet seems outrageous considering that so far this drink is consumed in the Asian giant with juice or ice at the time of karaoke. But the conversion of the masses to red wine is not by chance or by color, symbol of good luck, but because China is approaching a shortage of rice is the basis not only of food but also the national drink, the maizo, soon to be replaced by Bordeaux.
The time is right: the most famous wine region in the world is in crisis but on the opposite factor: overproduction. Seven million hectoliters of Bordeaux are produced each year as the market absorbed just six million. "Sobreproducimos, yes, but there were also periods when France was euphoric leading distributor of wine on the planet" The French expert will not say what their foreign colleagues say bluntly: the Gallic country has been ruined by "the château mentality" or castle mentality.
"How a consumer can choose between the 57 appeals of Bordeaux?" Complains a Swiss expert. "There are over 10 000 wines that go with the appeal of the castle when in fact only 400 of them are actually produced in prestigious places," notes an English winemaker punishing blunt: "people do not fall into the trap of wines race! "
In this context, the neo-Chinese consumers more fascinated by the art uncorking that the flavor of the wine itself, come about. Meanwhile in France, the château mentality remains indelible: even the blood of the revolution could with it. Proof of this is the city of Paris designated by its citizens as "Le Château", despite being very close to the Bastille where the last king was beheaded. And that left Mayor Bertrand Delanoë appear to be simpler than their predecessors of rights that were soon calling him a "barbecue mayor" for his habit of organizing rather than official dinners, snacks based mojitos. And the nickname has become an insult when in the fall of 2006 decided to get rid of the legendary wine cellar. During the auction were sold two bottles of Romanée Conti 1986 for 5 000 euros each. Naturally, buyers were rich merchants of Macao.
The following year, the reality of the flight of French wine heritage became more stark with the televised image of a woman coming to the pawnshop to get rid of thirty bottles of Pomerol, arguing that it is less painful to pawn jewelry ...
Is that since March 2008, Ma Tante, which means "aunt" and is the family name that designates the Monte de Piedad, proposes a new service that allows pawn a bottle of wine to quickly get half their value. The urgency of fluid caused more than 300 bottles were deposited in a few days, some out of desperation, others may be that business, as Ma Tante has a basement of luxury in a historic building of the eighteenth century, with a perfect temperature, where bottles may regain value, protected from bad vibes to the subway and, of course, the incursion of the robbers.
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