Albert didn't have a winery, but as a master winemaker, how could he not understand the cost of cellar wine.

But he still advised Link: "Imagine if your wine is of good quality, the price of your wine in the cellar will get higher and higher." The wine industry needs to be in business for the long haul. Maybe this year you sell a wine that is considered a mid-range wine, but a few years later the same wine will be considered a mid-to-high-end wine. As a result, prices will increase by more than 30%. ”

"But that's also a big risk. ”

Albert could not argue with this. However, he said with a smile: "Then you can see the market reaction and then reduce the sales of new wine every year year by year." The capacity of the newly built wine cellar can also be increased slowly depending on the situation. But your wine production is already high. If you sell too much, it will make it difficult for your wine brand to improve. ”

After a pause, he continued: "Actually, if I still have to guide the winemaking next year, maybe this year's grape production will be higher, but I suggest that you maintain last year's wine production, or even reduce it a little. ”

Link certainly knows that scarcity is expensive. But even if he only sells half of the new wine, it is 35 million bottles, and no matter how rare it is, it is not very rare.

The good thing is that he has a wide variety of wines. Maybe he can cellar some of the good quality wines.

He thought for a moment and said, "Maybe I can consider cellaring a third of it." ”

Anyway, we can sell two-thirds of this year, so I don't have much hope. Otherwise, he would not be in a hurry to build a wine cellar right away.

Albert didn't advise him to cellar more in the future, he just smiled and said, "Then I'll see the best ones tomorrow." ”

At Hanse Farm there are twenty-eight wines. Over the next few days, he could take a good look at the wines, choosing the best ones for Link to keep most of in the cellar. Those that have cellar value can also be sold for most of them, and only a small portion of them are cellared.

He thought for a moment and said, "I have made an appointment with several editors-in-chief of French wine impurities, and I will come to you in July or August to taste wines." That might be good for your sales. ”

Link nodded and said, "That will definitely be good." I'm also thinking of asking some of the most famous tasters in the U.S. to recommend me. In addition, I intend to hand over the sales of wine to a professional marketing team. ”

When Albert heard him say this, he nodded again and again and said, "It's really a good idea to hand over sales to a professional team." After all, you have too much wine. ”

Link smiled wryly and said, "If the sales are not good, maybe I will have to agree to your offer and cellar most of the wine." ”

Albert laughed and said, "You have to have faith in your wine." Have faith in me, too. ”

He could see that Link was genuinely worried. I don't want to increase his psychological pressure anymore. He changed the subject: "By the way, how is your new castle going?"

"Everything went well. Link said with a smile. "Speaking of which, the castle will have a storage capacity of 1.5 million wines. Maybe I can make it easier for me. ”

When Albert heard this, he smiled and said, "Please, Link." Didn't you notice that I was changing the subject?"

Link laughed when he heard him say that. After laughing, he said, "Okay, let's put the cellar aside first." Maybe you can tell us about something interesting that happened to you when you were making wine. ”

From the second day, their job is to taste the new wines.

They don't have to stay in the cellar, but they sample all kinds of wines and find a place to taste them. Albert will record the results of each wine tasting for future reference.

After tasting all the wines of Hans Farm and Hanova Farm, Albert was not immediately sure that the wines should be cellared.

Albert thinks the champagnes are pretty good: "The acidity and sweetness are pretty good at this stage. The bubbles are also quite perfect. The astringency is much lighter than last time. Maybe we don't need to add another flavoring solution. ”

After that, they flew to Ozette again. Of the three farms, Ozette has the most wines, with a total of sixty-three. More than Hans Farm and Habano Farm combined.

They randomly selected two bottles of all the wine in the cellar and brought more than 120 bottles back to the villa in a car. They are then temporarily kept at the appropriate temperature as required by the cellar.

To taste more than a hundred bottles of wine, that is not an easy task. If you drink too much wine, you have to wait for the tongue to fully recover your taste between each drink.

It was not until the third day that they tasted the forty-second wine of the Ozette.

Albert carefully poured the wine into two glasses, and when he saw the color of the wine, he was stunned for a moment, and said, "I have never seen this wine here before." ”

Link hadn't seen it either, he picked it up and looked at the white wallcovering, it was a purple red. The purple color is noticeable.

Albert also looked at the color of the wine, and there was no problem with the clarity. He smiled and said, "It seems that we have found a special wine." ”

Previously, they had been in the cellar to spot out some of Albert's own wines, although they had also sampled other people's wines. However, after judging that there was no problem, a random spot check was made to determine the influence of the cellar on the fermentation of the wine, and not all the wines were tasted.

This time, we will taste all the wines.

He shook the glass deftly for a while, then put his nose into the rim: "The wine is quite strong. I'll try it. With that, he gulped and then rinsed his mouth.

Link saw his brow furrow slowly furrow, and he also poured some entrances. At the entrance, he found a problem. The wine is too astringent, but at the same time it is quite sweet. He spat out the wine with a few stirring strokes with his tongue and said, "It seems that we have found the first failure." ”

Albert held the wine in his mouth for a long time before spitting it out, and said, "What is the number of wines?"

He opened a document on the table and said, "I'm going to see the notes on the brewing of this wine." ”

"Brewer Robert Baggio seems to be the child of an old fan. Roberto Baggio is one of the greatest players in Italian history. The latter sentence Albert was explaining to Link. He laughs. "Maybe you feel like it's a failed wine. But it's also a wine with a strong personal touch. And it's not necessarily a failure. Astringency represents an abundance of tannins. As long as it is aged for enough time, it may transform into aromas. ”

"Oh, so it might be a good wine?"

"Possibly. But not necessarily. Albert said a word of nonsense.

He took a closer look at the ingredients and brewing method of No. 42. Aside from the fact that the ingredients are clearly different from other wines, no anomalies have been found in any other records.

However, Albert soon discovered that this Robert Baggio had made six wines in Ozette. Others brewed up to three.

He had seen all the wines made by this Baggio, and found that there were three that revealed a strong academic winemaking technique, and the other three, which were indeed clearly experimental in nature.

After reading it, he tasted the glass of wine again. This time he even had a smile on his face, and he smiled and said, "Look at the wine." After oxidation, the color is darker. ”

Link picked up his wine glass and looked at it, and sure enough, he found that the color had changed to true fuchsia, and it was a gem in the light, quite beautiful. He asked, "Have you found the reason?"

"He chose grapes that were fully ripe, and even some that had softened. At the same time, he extended the pressing time and pressed it even harder. I think the purple color in the skins was more carried into the wine, and he added a little more stems to the wine, which made the tannins quite dense in the wine. Tannin oxidation consumes more oxygen. Perhaps because of this, the color of the wine is still the color of the grape juice. Some of the components in the grape juice were not completely oxidized in the bottle, but now they are oxidized on the outside world, and the color has changed. And the taste has also changed. ”

After tasting the other two wines, Albert smiled and said, "Maybe in the future we will see a great winemaker." This rosé wine is as sweet as ice wine and has no less alcohol than red wine, but it doesn't contain any other sugar. And this dry red is also very good, and the overly plump wine needs to be over-decanted. However, after fully decanting, the taste is extremely mellow. His brewing method has inspired me a lot. I suggest you hire him as a winemaking consultant on one of your farms. ”

Link is no longer the same person who didn't know anything about wine. He tried to drink it, and sure enough, it was just as Albert said. The young man who made those kinds of wines may not be very good, but he is definitely a winemaker with ideas and talents.

He nodded and said, "Maybe you can help me find his contact information." ”

"It should be fine. He should graduate this summer. I don't think he has found a job yet, and even if he did, it wouldn't be better than the job you gave him. Albert looked at the time, it should be evening in Italy, he said. "It's late now. I'll contact my friend again tomorrow morning. ”

Abert did not notice any anomalous wines other than the three wines made by Robert Baggio. However, their experimental attempt to brew icewine failed.

Albert shook his head after tasting and said, "Maybe the grapes still have metabolism even if they are hanging on the vine even if they are frozen in the cold weather, and there is still a difference between frozen grapes in the freezer and naturally frozen grapes." ”

"So, those ice wines can only be abandoned?"

"Nope. Although they don't taste as good as ice wine. But perhaps it can be used as a flavoring liquid for champagne. ”

Link didn't care. Those ice wines were only made experimentally because some grapes were not harvested in time, and the number was only more than 200,000 bottles. If it can really be added to champagne, it can be considered waste.

They tasted eighteen wines today and stopped.

Albert said of the castle under construction: "I can't imagine you building a $450 million estate. ”

"The money spent is your own, and if you have money, you have to enjoy it. Isn't it?" Link poured the red wine from his glass and went to make tea. "The manor is built and can be lived in for a hundred years. The cost is only a few million per year. I think I can still make a few million a year. ”

"I dare say that if all your wines are sold, you can get at least two villas like that. Albert also took the bottle of wine that was still open. "But what are you going to do with this villa? I remember you said it was only a year old. ”

"It's three months a year. This villa is definitely to be kept. There is a wine cellar underneath, which can store 200,000 bottles of wine. If you have guests, you can also entertain them here. Link made some tea and came over and said. "In fact, there is a similar villa on the other side of my newly built castle. ”

"According to Odin, the castle will be lavishly decorated. "Odin was the designer of the estate and a friend of Albert's.

Link smiled and said, "Luxury doesn't count. How luxurious can it be to build a three-acre castle for $450 million?"

"Haha, this is the first time I've heard of a castle built with a concrete frame. It doesn't cost much to build a blank, so I think it's mainly spent on decoration. ”

"Yes. Imported stone from Canada to decorate the wall floor. Buy water crystal lamps from Austria. It costs a lot of money. ”

Albert raised his eyebrows and said, "Austrian crystal lamps, Laubermel, Austro-Crarian royal supplies, the Kremlin, the Bolshoi Theatre, and the Metropolitan of New York use it." That's not cheap. ”

"It's really not cheap. According to the project budget, I had to pay $8.2 million for 46 chandeliers and 326 crystal lights. ”