Key Decisions running a wine estate

 So, you have bought a Chateau, Domaine, Quinta, Estate or Farm and you want to produce some exceptional wines.
The writing of the cheque for £$€ X million was painful enough. But you will probably need that money in reserve to upgrade the wine estate and improve the quality. The first investment (and most long term) is the most important......the vineyard. Are you happy with the vines planted on the specific soils? Do you need to replant some old vines? Is the density of planting correct? Are the soils vibrant with the specific level of micro organisms? Or are they compacted and dull? We often say that 80% of winemaking is from the vineyard.

The iconic Chateau Latour in Bordeaux. Francois Pinault bought this Chateau in 1993 for £86 million without visiting the estate. 

The terroir is a crucial aspect of any vineyard, and more particularly in France Appellations, as they are not allowed to irrigate. So the soils, as well as the inclination, altitude, subsoils, drainage, and location are all crucial.

Nature is also an irascible unknown that can effect your success or failure to run a wine estate. In fact nature is the most crucial aspect when you roll the dice.

Having a cellar full of wine is a luxury, but also a significant cost.

Having spoken recently to a well known gentleman in Pomerol, who owns a well respected estate, he mentioned three key decisions that he needs to make during the year that he can not go back on or change. Everything else should fall in to place if nature is kind and if the correct people are employed to do the work.

Harvest machines might be a lot less expensive than manual labour, but where is the romance?

The wine sits in expensive oak barrels (c€900 per barrel) for nearly 2 years before bottling. Cash tied up.

The three key decisions are:
1. The harvest date.........
This obvious decision is based on a large element of scientific analysis and also an element of wisdom and knowledge. It might be distracting if all your neighbours are in full harvest, when you are waiting for three extra important days for maximum maturity for your grapes. Or if there is a threat of rain in the coming days, do you try to pick the grapes as soon as possible or wait for the rain to pass and maybe have the problem of soggy, rotten grapes to pick. A key decision that can not be reversed.

2. The bottling and maturity........
There are many variables for ageing wine and ultimately deciding upon which style of wine you want in the market. A light fruity rose? A soft easy drinking red? A wine for long ageing and tight with tannins? Once the big decision to bottle the wine has been made, then you can not reverse that decision. A wine might taste fabulous in the tank or barrel, but it will change and metamorphosis once in the bottle.

3. Setting the market price..........
If you go too low, you will sell out too quickly. If you go too high, you might not sell at all.
Setting the correct market price for your wine will of course be based on your production costs and also your anticipated ROI. But also in Bordeaux you might need to consider the classification, or what other similar Chateaux are achieving for their wines. For Bordeaux wines, (which are mainly sold as futures) setting the price is a key decision that can not be reversed.

Many people buy wine estates with their heart rather than their head. Many aspects of nature can be a gentle roller coaster and hopefully a positive experience. However these three decisions above are the influence of humans in the wine making and selling process.

Is this innocent?

Why would a big wine tanker lorry from Bordeaux(with '33' number plates indicating the Gironde department) be filling up with wine from a large Cave CoOperative in the Minervois, Languedoc? Click on the picture to see it clearer.
This picture was taken on Wednesday this week.

It would be disappointing to think that wines were blended from the Languedoc with wines from Bordeaux. Bordeaux had a big harvest this year and would not need to bolster their wines.
It is illegal to label a wine as coming from one region, when the juice has been sourced from another. Unfortunately this kind of thing has been going on for many years. I just hope that this situation is innocent!

The weird thing is that the front of the lorry had Bordeaux number plates, whilst the back of the lorry had '11' plates for the local Aude region.
Maybe they were covering both eventualities?

Minervois Harvest 2011

Harvest time in the Minervois!!!









Everything is looking very good for the grape harvest for 2011. I was out in the vineyards at 7.30am on Sunday morning picking some delicious ripe Syrah grapes with my children and the team of 8 assorted pickers from the nearby town of Beziers.














We then had a go later on Sunday on the grape harvest machine with Eric Mari, the owner at Domaine La Prade Mari





According to Eric Mari this year is looking very good. The warmth in Spring time advanced the vegetative growth on the vines and the rain was even and constant, whilst the Summer was warm enough without being excessive. The conditions for harvest are very good. Fresh crisp early mornings followed by clear bright days.



We also taste the result of our hard work!!
Here young Max Wakes-Miller is tasting some Syrah grape juice (pre fermentation).

Dodgy dealings in the Languedoc

Sometimes I receive requests for amazing quantities of wine to be supplied to far flung countries......in fact I am currently quoting an exciting project in China for 500,000 bottles.
But with any large quote or with any volume of production one always has to have honesty and integrity. If there is not enough wine to supply then that is it. You can not re label or re invent wine for the market.
Apparently this is what has been happening with some producers in the Languedoc in order to supply a large American brand.
Read more here.

Languedoc Roussillon Wines

Here are some stats:
In 2006 the Languedoc Roussillon had 268000 hectares under vine.

The total volume produced was 16,044,000 hectolitres (1 hectolitre = 100 litres= 133 standard bottles (75cl)) Therefore the total production was 2,139,146,520 (that is 2.1 billion bottles!!!)

The split for this is:
69 % Red
18 % Rose
13% White

Of the total production:
19 % is Appellation Controlee.....meant to be the best.
54% is Vin de Pays....literally 'Country Wine' where you can mention the grape varieties on the label.
27% is Vin de Table...the rest.

The principal grape varieties planted:
Reds:
Carignan 52000 hectares(ha)
Grenache 45000 ha
Syrah 44000ha
Merlot 31000ha
Cabernet Sauvignon 19000ha
Cinsault 14000ha
Total red:205000 hectares.
Carignan is still the most extensively planted grape variety. Although it is regarded as a bit of a weed and usually blended with other grapes it can still produce stunning wines...as long as the vines are old.

Whites:
Chardonnay 12000 hectares (ha)
Muscat(s) 8000 ha
Sauvignon Blanc 6000 ha
Grenache Blanc 4000 ha
Total white:30000 hectares.

I believe that Chardonnay was only introduced to the Languedoc area in 1978. Its global domination is continuing!

The producers:
72% Cave Cooperatives
26% Independent Winemakers
2% Negociants.


The wine world is constantly changing and evolving. This is especially relevant in the Languedoc Roussillon where the volume of production has reduced significantly in the last few years. There have been generous incentives to grub up vineyards and stop producing wine. There have also been significant changes in demand for different styles of wines. The Rose revolution continues at pace. It will be interesting to see a similar set of statistics in 5 or 10 years time.

Languedoc Versus Bordeaux at Vin Neuf

I recently did a wine tasting at a very good wine merchants called Vin Neuf Wines in Stratford upon Avon.www.vinneuf.co.uk We selected some smart Languedoc wines and compared them to some smart Bordeaux wines. The Languedoc wines ranged in price from £5-£12, whilst the Bordeaux wines were £12-£30.
There is no doubt we are in a financially 'interesting' time in the UK after various stockmarket collapses and bank failures and impending doom and gloom. So guess which wines were the most popular????????????
Yes, the Bordeaux wines.
Undoubtedly the wines were very good, however I think that there is a stronger message that even in hard financial times people generally look for quality wines that they know about and understand rather than exploring slightly lesser known areas such as Languedoc.
The customers were generally knowledgeable and enthusiastic, but I was slightly shocked(and happy) about the support and resulting sales for the higher priced wines.
Here are the wines that we tasted:
from Languedoc...
Domaine La Prade Mari Viognier 2007 £6.99
Domaine La Prade Mari Carignan 2007 £5.49
Element Syrah Cabernet 2007 £5.99
Domaine La Prade Mari 'Conte des Garrigues' 2005 £12.50

from Bordeaux....
Chateau Haut Ballet 2005, Canon Fronsac £14.00
Chateau Haut Maurac 2003, Cru Bourgeois Medoc £12.95
Chateau Jean Faure 2005, St.Emilion Grand Cru £29.50
and as a bit of an oddity/novelty:
Mas Amiel 10 year Old Maury £19.95

It should be an interesting if challenging Christmas sales period ahead!!!

Weird Grapes

My neighbours have nearly 30 hectares of near perfect viticultural vines. They work 7 days a week 365 days a year in order to look after the land. They are delightful people, two brothers in their late 50's/early 60's who live in a ramshackle farm house at the top of the hill with their mother(who must be well in to her 90's)!

Their father passed away a few years ago. He was known locally as the 'helicopter man' as he drove around with an open top Citroen 2CV with a large electric fan cooling him down! Sounds like a bit of a character. The family arrived in this area(originally from Spain) with no possessions over 60 years ago. They have grafted all their life and built up their vineyards and never sold anything. They have absolutely no ostentatious trappings of prosperity. They are just very hardworking people who know a lot about the soil, the vines, the winds, the rain, the sun and how to make things grow! ...essentially the most important things in life.
They are old fashioned in their approach to viticulture but they weigh up decisions with 50 years experience rather than the latest fashion.
They pick all their grapes by hand. The picture on the left is the harvest team in full action. I lasted about 15 minutes before I was left behind! They were picking grapes on the vines about 200 metres from our house. I was intrigued to see a mixed block of white and red grapes. Apparently this was the norm 50 years ago when this vineyard was planted. The grapes in the picture on the right (which looked incredibly healthy) are a mix of Listan (white) also known as Palomini Fino and Aramon (red). Look up wikipedia for more info. But these grapes are an essential fabric of the amazing mix of life in the South of France.

Vin de Merde

A Languedoc producer has recently produced a wine and labeled it 'Vin de Merde'.
He has attracted attention...and he has sold all his 5000 bottles that he produced.
Jean Marc Speziale from Aniane near Montpellier said that he wanted to bring attention to the Languedoc and let people be aware of the hidden gems.
I just think he is an idiot. I have had enough of these stupid wine labels. Cats pee on a goosberry bush Sauvignon Blanc was funny initially. Fat Bastard Chardonnay was also OK. Arrogant Frog and Ribet Red have a sense of irony as the wine is produced by a smart and decent quality French wine producer (at least he has a sense of self deprecating humor).
But 'Vin de Merde'.....is just classless and naff. Or am I just an old fuddy duddy?