"So, are these the legendary Romanée-Conti wines?" Tony found that his voice was trembling slightly, as if he had seen the whole room. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Tony can't be blamed, for any wine lover, this room in front of him means a fairyland on earth, even happier than heaven. There is a strong smell of wine wafting in the air, but there is no basement turbidity and occlusion, on the contrary, there is a mellow aroma, which makes people want to close their eyes and breathe well.

I really don't know how the ventilation system in the cellar works.

Even Brandon couldn't help but get a little excited. Although he didn't know anything about wine, the rich aroma of alcohol could not deceive people, and it was easy to indulge in it, as if you could taste it on the tip of your tongue with your mouth open. As a beer lover, Brandon became interested in wine and wanted to have it tasted.

"Of course not. Nick's categorical and natural answer brought the excitement to an abrupt end, and Tony and Brandon were stunned for a while, as if the bungee jumper had jumped out, and they were pulled back with a confused look.

Lu Li was also a little surprised, but when he saw Tony and Brandon's expressions, he laughed out loud directly.

After the prank succeeded, Nick also smiled, "Romani Conti is limited. The queue for reservations is now several years away, and every year a new wine is sent to the customers according to the list, and only a small number of the wineries themselves are kept, and there is no need for such a large cellar. ”

This makes sense, if the whole room were Romanée Conti, then it wouldn't be so precious. I'm afraid that it would not be possible to bring together all the Romanée Conti on the market now, and it would not be necessary to have such a large wine cellar.

"All the wines stored here are from other wineries and are used as bundles for sale. As for the winery's own storage of Romanée-Conti, in another cellar. Nick humorously explains, "I wish it was all Romanée Conti so I could taste it." ”

"Why, haven't you had a chance to taste Romanée-Conti?" Tony's voice was full of pain, but with a hint of hope, and the unease was really indescribable.

"I've tasted some samples from the production stage, but never after the full package. Even for myself, I had to wait three years in line, which is the treatment of senior employees in-house. Nick's complaint made Lu Li and Brandon both laugh, but Tony drooped his shoulders in disappointment, "Today we still don't have a chance to taste Romani Conti, unless Fourteen's column is approved by the Brochet family, then maybe, we can have a chance to taste it." ”

The Brochet family, one of the owners of Château Romanée-Conti, has been a top château since 1942 by the Brochet family and the Le Roy family.

"I don't think the Brochets are going to get more 'New York Observer'. Lu Li's teasing made Nick laugh.

If Château Romanée-Conti wants to seek media partners, top media outlets such as the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and The Times can be said to be at their disposal, and the New York Observer is not ranked at all. Lu Li was able to win today's interview opportunity, and the "craftsman spirit" is still the core after all.

Tony grieved for a moment, but quickly came to his senses, "Nick, can you taste Ratahi and Li Qibao today?"

Under the umbrella of Romanée-Conti, in addition to Romanée-Conti, Latahi, Lichburg, Isseso, etc. also enjoy top-level prestige, and a bottle of Latahi also costs about 3,000 euros.

Robert Parker, a renowned wine expert, once said of Latahi, "I have always thought that the most fascinating wine of Château Romanée Conti is Latahi rather than Romanée Conti, which is inferior to Latacy in terms of flesh and body, but has the lightness characteristic of a top wine." Ratash has strong traces of terroir and is instantly recognisable for its distinctive aromas and flavours whenever tasted. ”

"Absolutely. Nick gave a natural answer this time, which made Tony smile again, "That's why you're here in the cellar, isn't it? ”

"Are you sure you're talking about the French?" Lu Li's complaint made Nick uncontrollable.

Walking through the long passage of the wine cellar, the barrels on both sides bring a strong sense of oppression, and the rich aroma of wine dances on the surface of the skin, as if the whole person is soaked in wine, which makes people slowly indulge.

A turn on the left, a small archway passes, and then you can see a huge storage room, with all kinds of wine bottles placed on tall shelves, and on the right hand side is a whole bottom wall of wine bottles, on which large clouds of dust are covered, full of the vicissitudes of history and the traces of time.

Every nook and cranny of the eye was filled with wine bottles, as if art lovers had entered the British Museum and the Louvre, and the shock made Tony slow down and walk lightly, lest he might alarm the hallowed place, and even Brandon couldn't help but open his mouth wide.

"Keep up. Nick beckoned in front of him and walked briskly.

In front of me is a small space, as if a stone box is embedded in the wall, with a dome roof, stone walls, a whole row of wine bottles neatly placed on the cabinet against the wall, and a variety of glasses and corkscrews below, and a heavy wooden table in the center, simple and simple.

When Lu Li walked over, Nick had already placed the wine glasses on the table, and there were six different bottles of wine in the ice bucket next to him, three red and three white.

Lu Li's footsteps stopped at the door of the stone house, and on the wine barrel on the left hand side, there were three wine bottles, but Lu Li couldn't help but bend down and look carefully, and then Nick's voice came, "Yes, this is Romani Conti that will be auctioned in New York next month." However, this one is an empty bottle as a souvenir. ”

"Romanée Conti in 1990?" Lu Li had seen a photo of the bottle of red wine at Sotheby's, and he was a little impressed, but he hadn't read the label carefully.

"Yes, it was a year of exceptional sunshine and rain, everything was just right, and before that there had been no 22 years of history worthy of a good wine, and in 1990 all conditions were exceptional, the harvest was September 28, and the production was ...... that year," Nick paused for a moment and recalled seriously, "seven thousand four hundred and forty bottles, and after that, the yield was never so high." ”

"I remember 10 years ago, 11 years ago, when I first started in the business, I saw a bottle with my own eyes. Garnet red with a hint of brown, ripe notes of bell peppers, spices and leather, a gorgeous body, and a very long finish. It was a really good vintage, top of the game. However, the bottle was too young and was far from its peak at that time. ”

Lu Li walked into the stone house, his expression full of surprise, "Although I have heard that some top-notch good wines need to be decanted slowly, preferably naturally, but I have not heard of a bottle of wine sobering up...... Uh, eleven years ago, in 2004, that's 14 years of wake, still too young?"

At this time, Tony, who followed in, explained, "The top Romani Conti has been at its peak for at least fifteen years, or even more than twenty years. If you can't wait to try it in the first place, you're missing out on the best parts of wine. ”

"The decanting time of each batch of wine is different, some five years, some ten years, as you just said, the really good things are bound to stand up to waiting. Nick nodded in affirmation to Tony.

"But then how do we know when a bottle of wine is at its peak?" Lu Li asked curiously.

When he was in the olive garden, he was learning about elementary wine tasting, and he had no contact with the really top wines, and those cheap wines, which were often decanted for less than three years, and this had already been achieved by someone, and they just had to memorize it.

"A true wine lover with patience on the one hand and perseverance on the other. We can open the wine and taste it a little bit every year, looking for the perfect peak. Nick's explanation made Lu Li's question marks more and more.

"Then what if the whole bottle of red wine is drunk before the peak arrives?" Lu Li thought this was really a very interesting thing, "Or maybe you have been reluctant to drink it, but you missed the peak and the wine lost its most perfect taste, what should I do?"

Nick chuckled, "So it's a science, a profound science, as we said before, the spirit of craftsmanship, really good wines, it's worth the wait." The point is to use your taste buds to guess how long you are left before your peak. For example, the bottle of wine in this auction is recognized as the peak of these two years. Especially this year. Therefore, this time the auction is estimated to be high again. ”

The confidence revealed in the understatement is impressive.

"Here, come and try this one. Nick poured a small half glass into the wine glass in front of everyone, "You all know how to taste wine, do you need me to demonstrate?"

"Let's show it. It was Brandon who spoke, Tony and Lu Li couldn't help but look over, a little surprised, but Brandon looked calm, "What we know is still amateur after all." This is France, one of the most developed and outstanding wine producing regions, and we can learn a lot. ”

"A lot of people take wine tasting too seriously, and really good wine is about being relaxed and enjoyable, and that's the point, isn't it?" Nick said with a smile, "We're not royalty, so learning wine tasting is more about enjoying the pleasure of alcohol." ”

Having said that, Nick picked up the glass and pinched the handle of the glass with three fingers, and the mellow red began to thin against the glass, like the setting sun.