Posts Tagged ‘bordeaux’
A Taste of France, Le Meridien/Plaza Athenee, 8 Mar 2012 – Bangkok
Thursday, March 8th, 2012Chinese Buyer of Bordeaux Château Disregards Wine Making Protocol; Infuriates Former French Owner – France
Tuesday, March 15th, 2011
The former owner of Château de la Salle, Blaye charges his Chinese buyers Zhongai, a company based in Dalian, China with bad business dealings. The Chinese company has infuriated the French owner by doing little since buying the wine estate, including not keeping up the vineyards or getting ready for the approaching harvest. Two months after the deal closed, the house remains shuttered and no manager has been hired. The two employees of the winery turn up but there is no money to put diesel in the tractor. “No one from Zhongai have ever visited the property,” said Patrick Etineau. “I put my heart into making a good wine and I never would have sold them the Château had I known they would act like this.” They also had the audacity to threaten to expand into neighboring vineyards and dump all the production into the vats without any selection for quality, diluting any notion of terroir.
Bordeaux 2007: White Wines Prevail
Friday, June 6th, 2008White Bordeaux wines, especially the sweet & stickies from Sauternes and most of the whites from this vintage, are the best coming out of the gate at primeurs week in Bordeaux 2007. The more important reds, from all reports, are soft and flabby. Producers are looking to Asia to help consume a great deal of this vintage however, it seems that prices will not be reduced even in the face of a poor vintage in red Bordeaux Grand Crus. In the past, lesser-quality vintages were usually sold off at a reduced price; this might not be the case for 2007, due to abnormally high labor costs.
More details at: http://www.jancisrobinson.com
