Beginning of the week

Monday, March 7th, we had lunch and tasted a few of our 2010 wines with one of our Chinese distributors, and then I caught up with last week’s work.
On Tuesday, I tasted the 2010 vintage of Chateau Escurac, a very good Medoc, powerfull, solid and subtle as shown on their web site

We met with one of our bankers to talk about an offer made on their interest rates. In fact, aren’t the rates going to increase? It’s almost certain, but should we check?

Visit from a client from the southern part of Japan, happy to visit our cellar, taste our wines and take pictures!
Then, I visited a colleague owner and producer in Montagne, tasted wines, quite good, but hard to add to our range already full, and with ex-cellar prices leaving little room for a wholesaler, as recently told by one of a larger colleague wholesaler to one of my friends who saw him to talk about promotion and distributing his wines. This wholesaler pointed out that the margins of Bordeaux wholesalers and not the same as distributors. Hard to spend money on promotion, prospect for new clients with 11% gross margin…

In the evening we had a casual dinner with the Todeschini family, Jean Guy, Anne Marie and their children Karl and Yvan (and Martine). Visit ofchâteau Mangot, a very nice château in Saint Etienne de Lisse, near our place and Faugères. We tasted all their Saint Emilion with a good Quintessences and especially their top cuvee called “Todeschini” which should be well received at my place in the month of April by journalists and clients.

Cuvée Louise 1998 Pommery, very good, which preceded an astonishing white: Le Paradis Saint Pierre from Domaine Coursodon 2009 in Saint Joseph appellation. Nose muted, double shut, and should have been drunk in a couple of years. The vinification of Marsanne in barrels must have been challenging.