With the exception of the vineyards, other surveys have come out. Overall, the winery's annual profit did not reach Xiao's previous estimate of $20 million.

The winery now produces 5 wines in 4 price ranges. The annual output value is 35 million US dollars. The wholesale price of the winery must be very different from the retail price, and from the current bill, except for the wholesale price of the estate Cabernet Sauvignon, which is more than 6% of the selling price, the other wholesale prices are only half of the retail price.

In this way, the average annual sales revenue of the winery is only 20 million, but the 20 million also includes labor costs, storage costs, as well as expenses incurred in vineyards, wineries, marketing, loans, real estate, building maintenance and administration.

For example, the winery's more than 200 acres of grapes need to be pruned in winter, tied in spring, thinned in summer, removed branches and leaves, and harvested by hand in autumn. Of course, it is impossible for these five people to complete such a large area of vineyards, they can only be responsible for managing, supervising and inspecting, and the rest is done by seasonal laborers.

According to the regulations, the wage of a low-level Mexican worker is now $9 an hour, which is $100 a day, and a foreman who can speak English and technology can get $200 a day, so even if one employee is responsible for 4 acres, it will cost more than 50 people. Of course, these workers are certainly not needed every day, and even if it takes only 60 working days, these temporary workers will be paid millions of dollars.

Therefore, after deducting these expenses, the estimated annual profit margin is only a little over 10 million. But it's not bad, thinking that this is only 200 acres can create such a big profit, Xiao Yifei also admitted, it's a big deal to expand the area of the vineyard in the future. In addition, the net profit can be 5% of the sales revenue, as long as it is less than 10 years, it can be recovered. If the vines are optimized, the quality of the wine will be improved, which in turn will increase the selling price, which will also bring more profit and shorten the payback time.

The winery has no big problems in other aspects, after all, it was just tossed by the French last year, and all the information is complete, and even if the other party has concealed it, Xiao Yifei has a magic weapon.

His magic weapon is all the materials of the Bordeaux negotiations last year, which Xiao Yifei bought from the French through the German Wilhelm.

On this day, Xiao Yifei, lawyer Ryan, intermediary Concubine Yue and Galder of Phu Quoc had a meeting together.

"Now the reports are out, and the vineyard reports are not yet available, but I believe that the land and so on are certainly the same as last year's, and there should be no problems with the vines, which means that we can be sure that there are no major problems with the winery. Now we can make preparations for the negotiations. ”

"There's a deal they made last year, don't reveal it, we can prepare according to this contract, so everyone's workload will be much easier."

"Concubine Yue, what is the final price estimated by your side?"

"110 million to 130 million."

"What about you, Gauld?"

"That's pretty much it."

"Have you counted all the liabilities?"

"Well, the loan was made by Napa Bank."

"Well, the bottom line of the price we set is 110 million, and we will try to control the purchase price below 120 million. I know that this price may not be attractive enough, but after all, the economic situation this year is not optimistic, and the situation in the next few years is not optimistic. Professional wine magazines are bearish on mid-to-high-end wines, so I think this price should be okay, more than 120 million, and they began to threaten to withdraw. If it exceeds 130 million, we give up. ”

Ryan and Concubine Yue first agreed, and then Gauld agreed.

The next step is to prepare them to negotiate with last year's contract according to this strategy.

Before the end of the 20-day survey period, the report of Professors Linda and Walker on the vineyard and land finally came out, and sure enough, it was basically the same as last year, and there was no big problem. It's just that the vineyard is a shortcoming in terms of the drip irrigation system that Xiao Yifei is most concerned about.

The vineyard is upstream of a reservoir next to the Napa River, so the vineyard does not have drip irrigation equipment on a large scale, but on other plots of land far from the water source and on newly cultivated slopes. So Xiao spent another $200,000 and asked the two professors to lead their team to make what they thought was the most optimal vineyard renovation plan, focusing on adding drip irrigation equipment and improvements that they found useful.

This is followed by the signing of a letter of intent to purchase, which is more legally binding than the previous one. This basically means that the parties will begin the process of confirming the reports immediately.

The work is progressing quickly, as the reports are much the same as last year's, and soon the two sides move on to the next stage, price negotiations.

At the beginning of this stage, the price they proposed was 140 million without loans, that is, a total amount of 160 million US dollars. And Xiao Yifei's offer here is 100 million with a loan, which is 80 million for Bo. So the two sides began to argue.

The first point of controversy is the most important winery collection, the bulk of which is the wine in the cellar.

The Monterena winery now has 5 series of wines. The superlative of these is the Monterena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon.

This wine is generally harvested in October, followed by alcoholic fermentation and then a malolactic secondary fermentation in oak barrels. Fermentation ends in January of the following year, barrel ageing, and after 22 months of ageing, it is bottled in December of the third year. After bottling, the wine is not sold immediately, but after 18 months in the bottle, it is released in the spring of the fifth year.

Precisely because a bottle of wine takes four and a half years, a bottle of estate Cabernet Sauvignon can cost up to $150. Of course, in order to be worthy of this price, the winery is also willing to invest in this wine, even the corks are used for 4 dollars a top oak stopper, and the elimination rate is as high as 20% when selecting grapes, and the pressing is more gentle and slow, and it takes 2 hours to process a ton of grapes.

This wine is also the main source of the winery's current money, and it is also the most popular brand on the market. However, in order to maintain the brand, the annual production of this wine is limited to about 9,000 cases, depending on the vintage.

The winery's second grade is Monterey Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine also undergoes a second fermentation, but it is aged in oak barrels to 14 months, bottled for 18 months at the chage, and released to the market in the fourth year after harvesting.

The treatment of this wine is not as good as that of the estate Cabernet Sauvignon, but it is not bad, and the stoppers are all high-quality oak stoppers for $1. This brand of wine sells for $50 and is so popular because of its low quality and popularity that it sells out almost every year. Similarly, in order to ensure the brand, the output is controlled between 10,000 and 20,000 cases.

The Monterey Chardonnay white wine, which has made the winery famous, is fermented after harvesting, but in order to preserve its unique taste, the winery does not use secondary fermentation technology, so that the wine can be bottled in July of the following year, and after resting for about a year, it will be sold in June of the third year.

This brand of wine is the most famous product, and the price point of $50 is considered the highest grade among white wines. Even so, if it weren't for the fact that the wineries had to keep a certain share of the wine, the distributors would be eager to empty the cellars. The annual output is between 8,000 and 15,000 cases.

The fourth brand of wine is the winery's old vine Zinfandel, which is aged for 14 months and left for 12 months after fermentation, and is generally sold in the spring of the fourth year.

The wine of this brand also costs $35, but with the light of the old vine, the sales are not bad. Even if there is a surplus order every year, it can also be digested at the winery through membership orders, website orders, tourist purchases, etc.

The fifth brand is Riesling, which is made every year from grapes sourced from Portport Valley, another wine region more than 100 kilometers away. Monterreyna's Riesling wine is picked late, contains many noble rotted fruit bunches, and the sweetness of the finished wine is good, which is very suitable for American taste, although the asking price is only 25 US dollars, but it can only be sold at the winery before, and now there are dealers willing to sell it, and there are no worries about sales, Bo They have long planned to expand this production.

The winery now has a wine cellar that can fill nearly 100,000 cases and more than 1.14 million bottles. Among them, nearly 10,000 boxes of estate Cabernet Sauvignon from 2006 have been bottled for 11 months and will be available for sale only next spring. 16,500 cases of 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon have been bottled for 15 months and are waiting for release this fall. Also bottling were 4,700 cases of 2007 Zinfandelle, 10,000 cases of 2007 Chardonnay and 2,500 cases of 2008 Riesling.

The rest of the wine is still lying in oak barrels in the cellar, waiting for the end of the aging before bottling.

Such a large number of cellars is worth more than $80 million at retail prices. At first, Bo also hoped to sell it to Xiao Yifei at a wholesale price of 50 million, but Xiao Yifei must not be wronged, which means that he will not be able to make a profit from the winery for 3 years.

Xiao Yifei and their counteroffer wanted to be calculated according to the cost price, so that they could win it as long as 15 million, and all the subsequent sales profits would belong to Xiao Yifei, of course Bo refused to calculate it like this.

The second focus is on the vintages that Bo deliberately left behind.

In order to replenish the winery's inventory, and in order to give winery visitors and wine club members a drink, the winery deducts a certain share every year. In some vintages, tourists or members buy less, and there is a surplus of the deducted share, and these leftover wines will definitely be sold if they are sold, but the practice of the winery is to combine the next 3 to 5 vintages into a small gift package and sell it at a higher price. Over the years, there are still nearly 10,000 bottles of these wines, all kinds of vintages, and they are also very precious.

In particular, the Château also has six bottles of Chardonnay 1973, which won the first prize in the blind white wine of Paris, and there are only a few bottles of this wine that still exist in the château. One of the bottles is placed in a display case in the winery's tasting room, while the others are kept in a special wine cabinet with constant temperature and humidity.

For the determination of the price of these wines, one wants to calculate it at the current price, and the other wants to calculate it at the current price. In this way, the two sides also have a big dispute.