American Fortune Life

Champagne, known as the king of wine, represents noble, elegant and luxurious romantic feelings.

In the wine industry in the world, there is a so-called customary rule that once champagne is limited to the sparkling wine produced in the Champagne province, 150 kilometers northeast of Paris, France, and the term champagne cannot be used for sparkling wine in other places, so as to show the quality of champagne. Distinguished status.

For hundreds of years, some people in Europe have been trying to steal the noble status of champagne by changing their posts, and named their champagne the French name of "Champagne Method", but the arrogant French people don't agree, and the wine industry colleagues also agree. Don't buy it.

Later, it even legislated that the sparkling wine made by the same method in other regions is collectively called the name "traditional method" to show the difference from champagne. It's just that the French can close the door and play by themselves, but other countries will not used to them.

For a century, the French have fought for the uniqueness of Champagne, filed hundreds of lawsuits with counterfeit wine merchants in the United States, and defended the status and dignity of Champagne around the world.

And the Ace of Spades champagne that Andy had his eye on was in the country, but it belonged to the old qualifications in the Champagne region, with a long history and pure blood, absolutely full of quality.

It is estimated that there are 40,000 wineries in France. Due to the continuous decline of the euro, the prices of these wineries have fallen, and some estates have a very low threshold, which can be obtained for only hundreds of thousands of euros, and the land and houses of the winery are permanent property rights for buyers, and at the same time, they can apply for 2-3 estates in the Bordeaux area. People who reside in France must of course have shares.

However, the process of buying a winery is not as refreshing as fairy tales, famous books and winery scenery, but rather lengthy and cumbersome. According to the formal process, it will take a year at the fastest. The key is to submit an application to the government and conduct a value assessment of the winery. If there are any artificial twists and turns during this process, it may disrupt the business.

For example, encountering unexpected situations such as resistance from the owner of the neighboring manor or the family members of the manor owner, etc. Of course, Andy does not need to worry about these problems. It only appears from time to time in the wave of foreign buyers scrambling to snap up French wineries.

Ace of Spades Champagne is a niche brand in the Champagne region and in the French wine industry. It can appear in clubs, nightclubs, and clubs in London. It has to be said that among them is the hip-hop who used to sell washing powder that Andy didn’t like. The credit of Heavenly King Z.

At the celebration dinner after the MTV Awards in 2006, the superstar held a bottle of Ace of Spades champagne in one hand and put an arm around Beyoncé sitting on his lap. According to reports, the marketing team of Ace of Spades It's not bad, and the high price of a bottle of more than 300 US dollars has made it a little famous, and it has entered some nightclubs and clubs.

After all, it is only a little famous, coupled with insufficient production,

With only 20 hectares of vineyards, the value of the Ace of Spades winery has basically been limited to less than 10 million euros, which has already taken into account the added value of the brand.

Well, this price must have been taken advantage of by Andy. After staying for a few more years, the brand has become popular all over the world. If you don't come up with an offer of 100 to 200 million euros, you will hardly be able to impress the Cartier family.

But now, huh, Andy just let people get in touch with the contemporary head of the Cartier family. He offered a price of 200,000 euros per hectare, which impressed the other family. You must know that the prices of other wineries are based on Calculated at the price of 200,000 to 300,000 euros per hectare, Andy's price is undoubtedly a sky-high price at present.

Of course, Andy is not being taken advantage of. It is nothing more than making the other party irresistible to hand over the secret recipe handed down by Cartier's family for rehydration with aged wine. No one is a fool. Of course, Cartier and his son are very clear about this.

Marne Valley, Champagne region, France.

A convoy of four cars drove into the town. In the customized version of the Rolls-Royce Phantom at the George V Four Seasons Hotel, Andy looked at the sunken town terrain through the car window, but the closer the town was, most of it was replaced by crop fields. , and occasionally clusters of vineyards appear. But this disconnected vineyard, quickly passing through town, becomes a seemingly never-ending vine on either side of the road, a very large vineyard.

Soon among the vast vines, a winery and wine cellar building that combines Gothic, Renaissance and Romanesque architectural styles appeared in front of everyone.

The convoy stopped, and at the entrance of the winery, Jacques Cartier and his son Alexander waited with several people to welcome Andy and his party.

"Hello, Mr. Smith."

"Good day, Monsieur Cartier."

Andy shook hands with Jacques Cartier, a healthy white-haired old man wearing a pair of glasses. Jacques introduced his son and the people behind him to Andy. Except for lawyers and accountants, everyone else had spades A member of the 8-member team at Chateau A.

“I love the YUAN mouthfeel, subtle aromas and rich fruitiness of the Ace of Spades champagne, such a remarkable sparkling wine, although it lacks a bit of complexity, it happens to be more approachable and suitable for everyone’s taste, so here I am .”

Hearing Andy's praise, all the staff of the winery, including Jacques Cartier, smiled. What could make the producers happier than praise.

"Thank you, this way please, be careful where you step." With a bright smile on Jacques Cartier's face, he led Andy and his party into the manor villa, directly through the spacious and bright hall, and came to an elevator In front of you, open the iron fence, and inside is a wooden elevator.

"We have a depth of 30 meters and about 119 stairs, which can be called the deepest wine cellar in the entire Champagne region, allowing the champagne to have a delicate and smooth taste when it is fully brewed underground."

Hearing Alexander Cartier's introduction, Andy was a little surprised. He nodded and walked into the elevator. Kenny followed him into the elevator without hesitation and stood in front of Andy.

The door was closed, the elevator went down, and soon reached the underground wine cellar. Kenny walked out of the elevator first, his body tensed, his eyes became extremely bright and he scanned the surroundings. Andy standing behind him clearly saw Kenny's hand Didn't leave near the holster on the lower waist of the suit.

Andy doesn't think it's a bit of a fuss, there is nothing wrong with being careful, his safety is more important than anything else, even if it makes people feel a little uncomfortable, there is nothing to do, after all, it is in a foreign country, especially in an underground wine cellar in the wilderness .

However, Alexandre Cartier didn't seem to notice. He kept the smile on his face and began to introduce the layout of the wine cellar to Andy.

The arched wine cellar is very long, with bottles of gold and silver bottles of Ace of Spades champagne upside down on the wine racks on both sides, which become horizontal wooden barrels with brackets as they are placed deeper.

Alexander Cartier smiled and took out a bottle of golden champagne and handed it to Andy, and introduced: "The grape picking process in our winery still insists on using all hands. After the wine is mixed with the secret recipe, the traditional manual shaking of the bottle is carried out to remove the slag, and only 8 people are allowed to participate in the whole brewing process, so as to ensure the stability of the wine quality.”

Andy held the somewhat kitschy gold bottle in his hand, couldn't help but smiled lightly, nodded and said, "You and Mr. Jacques Cartier are both experienced winemakers, and this is also the precious wealth of Chateau Ace of Spades."

The acquisition of Chateau Ace of Spades is naturally more than just acquiring a brand and assets, but more importantly, the secret recipe and winemaking team. This is the most critical part to ensure the quality of champagne. Naturally, Cartier and his son will stay, which is also a key part of the negotiation.

Of course, the Cartier and his sons did not intend to abandon Chateau Ace of Spades. After all, the brands of their family and Ace of Spades belong to mutual achievements. Once the acquisition is completed, their Cartier family will lose the inherited heritage. It's hard to say how much their personal value can be saved for wine and rehydration formula.

Some people may say that it is enough to leave and build a winery if you have the technology!

Then Andy is really huh, the Cartier family began to make wine and establish a winery in 1763, and the inheritance has lasted for more than two hundred years. Du Nima’s fame is only achieved by a photo of a black pop superstar. I have to say that it is also incompetent enough.

Look at other brands of champagne, such as Champagne King, Louis Roederer, and other red wines, such as Lafite, which are all bad. . .

Of course, Andy knows better than anyone else that the Ace of Spades champagne was popular all over the world in his previous life. Whether it is a superstar, a movie star, or the second generation, this wine is so sought after. There is no doubt that its own quality is very high, but we have to say It is a bit nonsense that the winemaking process and its own strength crush other champagnes.

The reason why it is so popular and so sought after is nothing more than a product of outright shrewd marketing, a success of opportunism. Of course, there is also the most important iconic precious metal color wine bottle. After all, those hip-hop superstars like this color the most. It is golden, tsk tsk, blinding!