Bollinger

Adrien Bacquey came to Saint Emilion to promote Bollinger Champagne in my company; not an easy task as I have many good friends in the great Champagne region. 

The Champagnes in my shops and in my company tend to be purchased and consumed by members of the company, my wine maker friends, during meals at home and of course some customers and tourists that come to visit our region.

We were lucky to taste, to drink, La Grande Année Rosé 2004 brut and all those present were seduced by this bottle. 

Therefore Bollinger champagnes will take their place in our shop l'Essentiel from 2014

Philippe Etchebest

 

Murielle and I were invited to dine by friends from Saint Emilion at the Hostellerie de Plaisance and once again we had an excellent meal. The height of Philippe Etchebest's talent doesn't need to be explained again, because even if he is currently a star on French television on M6's 'Kitchen Nightmare', he still works hard to please his happy, smiling customers, people from the local area and many young gourmets.

This is great for his restaurant and great for Saint Emilion. Professional service, a great wine list... We had a great time.

 

A safe investment

Some of our friend's properties, well known, have been or are in the process of being sold, and this at very high prices, if I am to believe the rumours.

An estate with a beautiful chateau, very beautiful, in Fronsac, is said to be the most expensive operation undertaken by a Chinese investor in Bordeaux. The French are also queuing up to buy wine chateaux, to protect their heritage, for tax deductions from a working tool, possible investments, social status and all of this with other irrational factors such as simply falling in love with the place.

Money in the bank, currencies like the Euro and the Dollar are being contested with new virtual currencies like the Bitcoin, which I heard of for the first time in 2011, would that explain it all? 

Hotels and restaurants

We have rediscovered the basics in the past few years; having many tourists coming to France and good quality hotels and restaurants to welcome them.

I am privileged to have many friends in these professions and the work undertaken by my collaboraters has ensured that our wines are present in Saint Emilion and the local area, in Bordeaux, in the Bassin d'Arcachon and of course in Paris.

The flap of a butterfly's wings...

The small amount of wine produced in Bordeaux in 2013 has caused a rise in the price of 'small wines', bulk wines sold in once put in the bottle by the Bordeaux wine merchants.

The rise, which has almost reached 30%, is also taking place in a difficult climate: the French economy is at it's lowest ebb, exporting is difficult due to the strong euro and this added to the fact that the 2013 vintage in Bordeaux, to put it lightly, doesn't benefit from having a favorable reputation.

Of course this has an impact on my buying, follow ups, and exclusivities. Luckily I have the advantage of having considerable stocks of previous vintages.

For the more expensive wines, we shall see what will happen in March with the Primeurs but for the moment for our wine in stock we are not really looking at any rises but stagnation, blockage and falls, apart from a few exceptions... :(