Chapter 100

The 1990 Romanée-Conti is also a luxurious indulgence for these vineyard owners.

After a group of people celebrated, they came to see the three top-tier vineyards that now belonged to Wang Zixuan.

Walking west through the village, they entered the gradually sloping vineyards, with a dirt road running through the middle.

One of the original owners of the vineyard, Aubert de Villaine, pointed to the vineyard inside a stone wall to the north and introduced it: "This is the Romanée-Conti vineyard. To the north of the Romanée-Conti is Richebourg, and to the south is La Tâche."

Wang Zixuan looked inside and saw several French farmers plowing the land with horses.

Aubert de Villaine explained: "Machinery can damage the soil and grapevines, so we have always used traditional methods for plowing. The planting, maintenance, and harvesting of the grapevines are all done by hand, and we reject chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and any other chemicals that could affect the quality of the grapes. This increases the expenses of the vineyard, but it ensures the perfect quality."

Indeed.

Strict control is necessary for perfect quality.

Wang Zixuan strongly agreed with the management of the Romanée-Conti vineyard.

In fact, according to the contract, he could not change the traditions of the Romanée-Conti vineyard; he could only change the sales methods.

The successive owners of the Romanée-Conti vineyard considered themselves guardians of the wine philosophy, not just owners.

Wang Zixuan was not interested in the management of the vineyard; he only hoped to use the allure of Romanée-Conti to enhance the competitiveness of the Prince International Resort Group. Maintaining the traditions of the vineyard would better attract global tycoons.

To maintain the traditions of Romanée-Conti, one of the original owners, Aubert de Villaine, was even willing to work for the Romanée-Conti vineyard until retirement, as he was also the chief winemaker of Romanée-Conti.

The chief winemaker of Romanée-Conti has always been passed down within the family.

Aubert de Villaine would also find a suitable successor for Wang Zixuan to take over as the chief winemaker of Romanée-Conti. If that couldn't be achieved, he would have one of his nephews continue to serve Romanée-Conti.

Aubert de Villaine had no children, and his two nephews were his successors.

Wang Zixuan expressed great respect for Aubert de Villaine's traditions.

In his heart, however, he was somewhat skeptical.

The wasteful sons of some nobles had their own standards, but he trusted his own instincts more.

Is Romanée-Conti really that good?

Yes, it is very good.

But is it really the king of red wines?

Not necessarily.

The entire Western world believes that French red wine is the best, and among French red wines, those from Burgundy and Bordeaux are considered the best.

What is the reality?

In 1976, a British man held a blind tasting of French and American wines in Paris. He selected six Cabernet Sauvignon red wines and six Chardonnay white wines from the United States to challenge four Bordeaux red wines and four Burgundy white wines.

Among the red wines, there were three top-tier Bordeaux wines, which were rated as the best red wines of the past 45 years by the Bordeaux Wine Council in 1970. The remaining Bordeaux wine was a 1971 vintage, which was also rated as "excellent" by the council.

It can be said that the organizers did not play any tricks.

To the arrogant French, there was no doubt about the outcome. The difference between French and American wines was too great, let alone compared to top-tier Bordeaux wines.

The result of the blind tasting by nine top French wine critics was that an unknown California wine from the United States defeated the top-tier Bordeaux wines and took first place.

The slight consolation for the French was that the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th places were all French wines.

Despite this, the French refused to acknowledge the results of the competition, as they could not accept that the first place was not a French red wine.

The American media, on the other hand, widely reported the event.

"Did French wine really lose to American wine?"

"The Great Earthquake in the World of Wine"

"The Historic Paris Wine Tasting"

"Californians Win!"

Similar sensational headlines appeared on the front pages of major media outlets.

This competition was also known in the wine world as the "Judgment of Paris."

The price of California red wines soared as a result.

Of course, the top-tier French Romanée-Conti did not participate, so they refused to recognize the results.

This seems to be a common attitude among different ethnic groups.

In 1986 and 2006, two more blind tastings of French and American wines were held, and the results again embarrassed the French. In 2006, the top five places were all occupied by American wines.

Although American wines could outperform French wines in competitions, this did not change the landscape of the wine industry.

When it comes to red wine, Europeans and Americans still believe that the best red wines come from Burgundy and Bordeaux in France, and their prices are higher than those from other regions.

To put it more subtly, this is a matter of tradition and culture.

To put it bluntly, foreigners also recognize brands.

This is true globally.

Later, when Chinese celebrities and entrepreneurs "highly" acquired vineyards in France, they mostly bought low-tier vineyards in Bordeaux and Burgundy to deceive domestic "wine enthusiasts."

Since everyone recognizes brands, Wang Zixuan naturally wanted to buy the best brands globally, maintain their traditions, and make them even more recognizable.

To reduce the resistance of the vineyard workers, Wang Zixuan, like when he acquired the Mediterranean Club, announced a 15% increase in the wages of all vineyard workers.

After visiting the Romanée-Conti vineyard, Wang Zixuan attended a luncheon prepared by Aubert de Villaine and then left Burgundy.

Adolf von Frank returned to Germany, while Wang Zixuan flew to the United Kingdom.

On the way, Wang Zixuan proudly posted a Weibo update: "Second trophy."

He also included several photos of the Romanée-Conti vineyard, one of which was a stone plaque with the name Romanée-Conti.

Although the netizens did not recognize Romanée-Conti, they could easily find out its background with a quick search on Baidu.

Many netizens immediately recalled the recent news reports.

They never expected that Wang Zixuan had really bought the world's best red wine vineyard.

There were cheers and worship from all sides.

Others might go on a shopping spree in a mall, but Wang Zixuan flew across Europe and bought the best in the world.

Too dominant.

Too impressive.

Many girls joined Wang Zixuan's "wife" group.

Netizens also flooded Wang Zixuan's comments, asking how much he had spent on these two trophies.

Wang Zixuan did not hide it. After seeing many netizens asking, he posted another Weibo update: "Eclipse: $1.086 billion, Romanée-Conti: €4.6 billion."

This is equivalent to about 48 billion RMB.

Netizens across the country were in awe.

Just like the lyrics in Wang Zixuan's song "Money Talks," it seemed he was on a mission to buy the entire Earth.

"Husband bought the Earth."

"Husband bought the Earth."

"Husband bought the Earth."

After one netizen wrote this comment, countless others started to tease Wang Zixuan.

(Thanks to the reader "Miao Miao Ji?_?" for the 100 RMB tip)

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