Thursday, March 20, 2008

Explanation on the text

In response to my post yesterday, François Mauss wrote in his blog :
“As a good French man, I should have written “in his court” and not “their court” and I should have also have made it clearer that it is the margin of the property”.

I read the post again and did understand that François Mauss wrote about the margin from the properties. And without copying the astonishing comments published in the last Revue du Vin de France and written by Denis Saverot, prices are and will always be a balancing act between offer and demand. This still needs to be discussed and all parties should be involved, and not be influenced by Bruel and the success of poker, which essentially consists of lies.
In addition, François Mauss writes about 200 top crus. I think that the problem concerns less than 80 properties, some having had access to the futures system don’t deserve to be part of it, except in successful vintages. Lets not forget that the first rule for the futures campaign in Bordeaux, is the price revaluation, speculation or not. It is the only reason for a buyer to pay today a wine which will be delivered tomorrow!

Jean-Marc Quarin didn’t like the 1998 vintage in the USA: Too much taste of cork, evolution, closed wines… bad patch?
In any case, tomorrow on Good Friday, he will taste the 2007 and 2006 produced in my properties and where I am consultant. In the evening, it will be with another important critic to end my day.

For journalists and critics, it is the busy period of tastings, coupled with the stress of getting it wrong, of missing, and the weight of the PR campaign on top.

Cant: Stéphane Toutoundji talks about it, especially when commenting on our barrels and coopers. It is tough to support this lack of frankness when you try to do better for the good of everyone. This reminds me this Bordeaux saying: You can tell a Chateau owner that his wife cheats on him, never that his wine is bad.
Consultants, oenologists, advisers are often limited by what the client can or wants to hear. Trying not to shock while still moving forward, that’s a real balancing act.

I also had the opportunity to taste some 2006 produced in the Roussillon by a new “Bordelais” who moved there after falling in love with this region. And this despite being very well known in Bordeaux. You will hear about this wine nicely called Domaine de Mastrio. They produce a “normal” cuvée and an old vine (100 years old). For some that know him, his name is Michael Paetzold. He is looking for distributors in the whole world, or almost the whole world.

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