Full Planning

Meeting yesterday at 9 am with the sales people of a tractor Jaguar for our vineyards in our 3 properties in Pomerol, and despite serious negotiation, the price for such a special tractor high on its wheels is around 120,000 euros! The means needed to make wine today are certainly far from the ones needed when I started, when, without any money I was able to work well with the help of a few neighbors, friends who gave me time, lent me their tractors, dusters, plows that I couldn’t afford.
Well, in any case, back to our Jaguar, it is already our 3rd, which proves it is a good investment, as Xin Yan says: “to make a mistake once is normal, twice is possible, three times is perversity!” – actually, she was talking about marriage!

At 10 am, meeting with our attorney for the purchase of a small property in Pomerol and Lalande Pomerol: 3 lawyers, 2 consultants, 5 sales reps with complicated structures… a real miracle to reconcile, 6 months later the various interests sometimes quite divergent.
12:15 pm, A bit late to discuss the Chinese market with a journalist from the Wall Street Journal and 2nd meal at the Clos du Roy (perfect) with Cécile and Xin to talk about this market. We drank a great bottle of Clos Saint Martin 2000 ( RP: 96, worth even 98 today).
2:15 pm (15 minutes late), meeting with a journalist from the RVI, and it was her who arrived late at her next meeting of 3:30 pm!
At the end of the day and this morning early, review on the work done by Christian and Xavier on the American market which is becoming one of our top sales priority.
In the evening, dinner with Ghislaine and Michel Puzio (Croix de Labrie) on the pretext of eating a big truffle bought by Michel in the Saint Alvère market in Dordogne. We drank an average Champagne Rosé and one of Murielle’s favorite wines: Trotanoy 1998, delicious. In addition, a old Maury from the Cooperative.
Tough, tough… no time to get bored.

Austria suite

Still, in Austria … where wines taste better, maybe due to the altitude (1800m -5900ft) and the air is cold and dry?
We tasted:
Monbousquet 1999, very good
Valandraud 1995 , maybe our best bottle in this vintage!
Clos de Sarpe 1966, old Bordeaux style and 2001, good wine.
A series of Providence (New Zeeland) from Mr Jim Vuletic, 2004 / 1998 /1999/ 2000/2001/ 2002 (good wines) and 2003
Neumeister 2005 Sauvignon
A 100% Malbec (from Mendoza, Argentine) very very good 1977 : Cuvée Estrella de Weinert
Kollwentz 2002 cuvée Point, Burgenland varietal, good
a fantastic Nigl 2005 Riesling, to drink and drink again… (I will buy some!)
Back in Saint Emilion, We drank 2 good wines: Ermitage Pavillon from Chapoutier 1998 and Balthus 2004

Oh, I forgot to say thank you for a foie gras received by Murielle, foie gras cooked with spices and dried fruits, from the favorite cook of Geoffroy and Thibaut Sciard (Château Faurie de Souchard)…. It didn’t last long !