Chapter 215 Ban
"Dear Mr. Patrick Bernard, I am Laurent Duff, the new general manager of Maison Chiron."
“I regret to inform you that, after the decision of the core management of the company, all the wines under our Calon family will be withdrawn from the futures wine trading system from now on!”
“But we will continue to offer bottles of vintage wines to all traders.”
"If you need specific details of cooperation, please go to Chateau Calon-Ségur to discuss in detail!"
In the office of the chairman of Millesima, the largest wine trading company in Bordeaux, Patrick Bernard received a notification letter signed by Laurent Duff, the content of which surprised and angered him.
With a bang, the letter was slammed heavily on the desk by his right hand.
It also scared his son, Oliver Bernard, who was sitting opposite him.
"Father, what did Laurent Duve say in his letter?"
Patrick Bernard turned around suddenly and said, "Look for yourself!"
Oliver Bernard immediately took the letter from the table and was shocked when he saw it.
“Are they crazy? They actually want to withdraw from the en primeur wine trading system?”
You know, the wines of Château Calon-Ségur are basically sold through the futures market.
Isn't this cutting off one's own path?
Patrick Bernard didn't say anything. He was thinking about the whole process and the causes and consequences of the whole thing.
Was this a sudden decision?
Or thoughtful consideration?
The so-called futures wine trade is actually a kind of buying and selling transaction that treats wine as futures.
Futures wine, also known as hops, refers to the wine that has just been put into oak barrels for aging after the fermentation process is completed. The ownership of the wine begins to be sold to futures wine traders, and then it is bottled and leaves the cellar after one and a half or two years.
Because of this, the price of futures wine is generally very cheap.
Just like Calon Segur, the price of futures wine is generally around 35 to 40 euros.
But on the market, the price of a bottle of Calon-Ségur's authentic wine is at least three or four times higher.
The huge price difference in the middle is the profit added up by futures wine traders, agents, wholesalers, etc.
The main reason for the futures wine trade is that after World War II, Bordeaux wineries were seriously short of money.
But now, the futures wine trade has changed.
Many wineries are even held hostage by futures traders.
Even world-class wine brands such as Lafite and Latour do not dare to say that they will completely withdraw from the futures wine trading system.
The Chiron family actually dared to withdraw?
"Dad, do you want me to talk to Laurent Duff?" asked Oliver Bernard.
Laurent Duff previously held a key position in a very famous Bordeaux futures wine trading company.
They were all people in the same circle. Oliver Bernard was very familiar with him and was easy to talk to.
"No need!" Patrick Bernard raised his right hand to stop his son.
"No need?" Oliver Bernard looked a little surprised.
"Father, Calon is one of the most popular wines in Bordeaux. It is even better than Lafite and Latour. It is a cash cow. Are you just throwing it away like this?"
In terms of fame, Calon Segar is only a third-class growth, not a famous brand, but in the circles of many wine lovers, Calon Segar is far more popular than Lafite and Latour.
Moreover, the wine label of Calon Segunda is a red heart, which is unique among wines in the world.
This also makes Calon-Ségur the most popular wine for wedding banquets in high society, with very large sales.
Otherwise, how could Calon, a third-class growth, have vineyards and an annual output similar to those of Lafite and Latour?
Patrick Bernard smiled coldly, "If I'm not mistaken, this idea must have been proposed by the new boss of the Chiron family. They won't listen to us!"
"Why?" Oliver Bernard still didn't understand.
Patrick Bernard looked at his son with some regret. After so many years of dabbling in wine, he still didn't get it.
“The en primeur trading system divides the entire industry chain. Under this system, wineries are not involved in sales, but only in production. All sales and marketing are left to en primeur traders.”
Oliver Bernard was well aware of this.
“For those powerful wineries, they certainly don’t want to be held hostage by en primeur traders, but they can’t just break away from this system. They can’t afford such a big risk, after all, they don’t have their own sales channels.”
“But over the years, they have been planning their own sales channels and have been thinking about getting rid of the en primeur trade, because only in this way can they better manage their own brands.”
At this point, Oliver Bernard suddenly realized.
"Father, do you mean that the Kailong family wants to build its own brand?"
Patrick Bernard still smiled coldly, full of disdain.
"Is it that easy? They can do something that neither Lafite nor Latour dare to do lightly? Do they think they can just poach Laurent Duve who is familiar with the wine sales trade?"
"So what should we do?" asked Oliver Bernard.
Patrick Bernard clenched his right fist and slammed it hard on the desk, making a dull sound.
"Since they want to quit, let them do it!"
At this point, Patrick Bernard turned around and said, "Go, call several other large futures wine traders. We need to reach a consensus and completely ban the Chiron family!"
This is a game of killing the chicken to scare the monkey.
Only by suppressing Chillon-Séguinage can wineries including Lafite and Latour, which want to get rid of futures traders, be more restrained.
Don’t think that futures wine traders have no way to deal with them!
If you really make me angry, the worst that can happen is that we just break up and see who benefits the most!
…………
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In the Calon-Ségur estate in northern Bordeaux, Yang Huan was unaware that the large futures wine trading companies in Bordeaux were holding a meeting, plotting to ban the defecting Calon-Ségur.
He was holding his first high-level meeting with several old teams from Château Calon-Ségur.
“I think the chateaus of the wineries should be renovated. In the chateaus of the top wineries, there are guest rooms specially provided for customers to stay overnight, but we don’t have that here. I think this should be improved.”
The speaker is Alain de Laville, the chief architect of the winery. He has worked at the winery for more than ten years and has been engaged in various renovation work at the winery.
"I agree. The living conditions here are too poor. Let's change them!" Yang Huan waved his hand and agreed.
Zhao Yuanfang on the side immediately wrote down Master Huan's instructions.
For reconstruction, funds must be allocated and it must be recorded.
Liu Mingwei was thinking, this renovation would probably cost seven figures of Euros, right?
"Vincent, what do you think?" Yang Huan looked at the technical director Vincent Millett.
Yang Huan has a characteristic: he attaches great importance to professional talents, especially those with technical expertise.
Vincent Millett is the typical technical expert who is full of arrogance.
Previously, he was in charge of technology and research at Château Margaux, one of the five famous wineries in France, and came to Calon-Ségur in 2006.
Over the years, the wines of Calon-Séguinage have remained very stable, and Vincent Millet's contribution is obvious.
He is now a talented winemaker with a great reputation in the Bordeaux region and even in the world wine industry.
Vincent Millett did not expect that once the new boss from China arrived, all the old employees would stay.
Not only that, after spending nearly 200 million euros to acquire Chiron, it actually plans to continue to make additional investments.
No matter how you look at him, he seems to be a big shot who is wealthy, capable of doing big things, and has great courage.
This also made him excited.
"Master Huan, I have always wanted to set up a research and development department."
"Oh? Tell me about it!" Yang Huan became a little interested.
His favorite thing to do is research.
Research costs money, but the problem is that the results are real.
Now Vincent Millett got excited.
Finally I can realize my ambitions!
"In the past few years, we have increased the density of vines from 7,000 to 10,000 per hectare, but this is far from enough and there is still room for further improvement."
Yang Huan was a little confused. He didn't understand the logic behind this.
Zhao Yuanfang immediately smiled and explained, "Master Huan, the greater the density of the grape vines, the less each plant will produce, and the smaller the grapes will be. But relatively speaking, the quality will be higher, and the wine produced will be richer and more natural and elegant."
"Oh!" Yang Huan suddenly realized.
It turns out there is such a truth.
It turns out that the grapes in the winery should be as small as possible.
"Mr. Zhao is right, but to achieve this, we need to further improve water source conditions and drainage channels."
"By the way, what is the density of the grape vines of the two famous wineries, Lafite and Latour?"
Vincent Millett felt a little proud of himself at this.
"Lafite has 8,500 vines per hectare, while Latour and Margaux both have around 10,000 vines per hectare. In this respect, we are not inferior to the Big Five."
Yang Huan nodded continuously, "Go on."
Encouraged, Vincent Millett became even more motivated.
"I plan to set up a research team to study the DNA of each vine, preserve the genetic diversity of all clones, and develop a method to reduce the use of chemicals and make the vines more resistant to pests and diseases."
Liu Mingwei was dumbfounded when he heard this.
It turns out that these grapes are not free-range, they are raised as pets.
No, I cherish them even more than pets.
What's the point of doing DNA research, cloning, and genetic technology?
My God, I treat these grapes better than I treat people!
"Okay, give me a budget, I agree!" Yang Huan said with a smile.
"Really?" Vincent Millett was a little bit unbelievable.
This would require an investment of at least tens of millions of Euros.
"Yes, really. Go buy the equipment you need and poach the talent you need. I fully support you!"
Are you kidding me? How much does it cost to do this?
I make three million pounds a day, and a few thousand pounds a minute. Do you still care about this?
Vincent Millett immediately clenched his fist and cheered excitedly. His long-cherished wish was finally fulfilled.
"Don't worry, Master Huan, I will never let you down!"
Yang Huan just smiled and looked at General Manager Laurent Duff.
The latter also put forward some suggestions, such as if to withdraw from the futures wine market, it would require a large-scale expansion of the wine cellar, a new winery and tasting room, etc., which are all infrastructure investments.
Yang Huan also agreed on the spot.
It was his decision to withdraw from the en primeur market because he did not like putting his neck under the knife of others.
So he has to control his own lifeline.
Since we have decided to take this step, we must prepare all other supporting facilities well and completely.
Yang Huan also put forward some opinions of his own.
Because he discovered that the Chiron family didn’t even have its own official website, which was too out of date!
No wonder we had to be manipulated by futures wine traders in the past and had no choice.
Therefore, the official website must be launched as soon as possible, and WeChat, Twitter, Facebook, etc. must also be opened as soon as possible.
“Further integration and reorganization of our sales channels, especially those to the Chinese market, is a top priority!”
Laurent Duff understood.
This was the purpose of Yang Huan hiring him to the Chiron family through a headhunting company and paying a large sum of money.
"Master Huan, speaking of the Chinese market, I remembered something." Vincent Millett suddenly spoke.
"What's up?"
“Before, the winery was facing a takeover, and many things came to a halt, so we were unable to deal with some things.”
Yang Huan almost kicked him, "Get to the point!"
Are all these technical experts so bad at speaking?
Could you please stop being so long-winded?
"Yes, Master Huan, we received a call from China before. They hope that we can sponsor their movie!"
Yang Huan was stunned when he heard this.
Find a French winery to invest in a Chinese movie?
This guy is awesome!
Not only is it awesome, it’s also incredibly creative!
Quite interesting!