Immigration lawyer Kevin Brown informed Xiao Yifei that his social security card had been approved, and that negotiations with the immigration department were scheduled for tomorrow, and he would basically be able to get a green card. In the past, many tourists could obtain the Social Security Card, but after 911, the approval and issuance of the Social Security Card was tightened. Although the green card is only a 2-year temporary green card, Xiao Yifei does not have any property and investment in the United States at all, and according to the regulations, the money from the loan is not foreign funds and cannot be regarded as investment.

First go to the Social Security Bureau and get a social security card, with this, he can get a driver's license, open an account, and apply for a credit card.

Then came to the immigration office, signed some documents, the interviewer had already been instructed, and looked at the existing proof of assets, as well as the agreement with Wells Fargo, to determine that this person really wanted to invest in the United States, and he was a big fish, so the interview passed, and Xiao Yifei got a 2-year temporary residency as quickly as possible. There are two concepts to illustrate here: residency and naturalization.

Residency means that you can enter the country without a visa. There are two kinds of residency, one is temporary residency with a limited duration, that is, you can enter that country without a visa for a certain number of years. It is usually called a temporary green card.

Permanent residency is the real green card. As long as you have permanent residency in a country, you can come and go at any time.

And to get a green card, whether it is temporary or permanent, at this time you are still a Chinese national, and you do not need a visa to the Chinese embassy when you return to China, and the statements in some novels are wrong. Moreover, the representatives of certain countries take this kind of thing, so it is not correct to say that foreigners rule a certain country. But it's true to say that they pat their butts and leave.

Naturalization is to join the country of another country, and naturalization is the real immigration. According to our Nationality Law, acquiring the nationality of another country means giving up your Chinese nationality and requiring a visa to go to the embassy when you return to your home country.

Some people think that in this case, it is better to get a green card than naturalization, but it is a lack of comprehensive understanding of green cards and nationality. Not to mention the right to vote, let's just say that the green card itself, the green card, can be deprived, once you violate certain laws, you may be deprived of your green card, lose your right of residence, and be deported to your home country. And nationality cannot be taken away, even if it is a crime, it can only be imprisoned, and it is still a person from that country when it comes out.

In addition, the United States has more than 100 visa-free countries, if you are a Chinese citizen and hold a U.S. green card, but in addition to Canada can stay for 180 days, you need to apply for a visa to other countries, just that you are easier to pass. Only if you have obtained U.S. citizenship can you be exempted from a visa.

The next thing, needless to say, must be to open an account with Wells Fargo, transfer more than 2 million euros from a German bank account, convert it into more than 2.6 million US dollars, and successfully get a MasterCard credit card.

Matt, the manager of the loan department of Wells Fargo, began to trick Xiao Yifei into allocating loans. They must have hoped that Xiao Yifei would take out a loan earlier, so that the interest could be calculated earlier, and the ownership of the four oil paintings could be officially mortgaged to their bank. Xiao Yifei can only deduce that the acquisition negotiations have not yet begun.

Vice President Marshall, who was sitting next to him, was not good at stubble, and immediately began to recommend the business negotiation team of Wells Fargo, boasting that they were the most professional and could allow Xiao Yifei to gain an advantageous position in the negotiations. Xiao Yifei could only deduce again that the negotiations had not yet begun.

However, out of politeness, he accepted Marshall's advice and began to think about hiring an accountant.

Just then, Concubine Yue called.

"Mr. Xiao, according to your request, I found 4 wineries in Napa Valley, all of which are at the level of 10 million, and I don't know if Mr. Xiao knows anything about Arozhu Winery, and their boss is also a little ambiguous, neither refusal nor promise."

Concubine Yue is working very hard these days, but fortunately, with the help of her colleagues in the office, some went to check the information of the winery to find out the winery that met Xiao Yifei's requirements of more than 10 million US dollars, and some people helped to talk to the winery owner about whether they had any plans to make a move. In this way, Concubine Yue was able to find so many wineries so quickly.

Xiao Yifei wished he could leave San Francisco, so as not to annoy people from other rich countries. So he immediately agreed: "Okay, thank you for your hard work, I will invite you to dinner in the evening, and you will give me the information of these wineries at that time, and we will start to visit the wineries tomorrow." ”

Xiao Yifei visited the Araujo Estate, which is located in Callistoga along with the Monterena Winery. It's just that Monterena is north of the town and Aroju is south of the town. The winery has 162 acres of vineyards, the most famous of which is the 38-acre Essera Vineyard (eisele_Vineyard), which arguably arguably the best Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard in the Napa Valley and is known as the "American Bordeaux" in the United States. The Cabernet Sauvignon produced by this vineyard is staggeringly expensive.

Xiao Yifei saw the owner of the winery for the first time. Aroju wanted to laugh. Bart has gray hair and eagle eyes, believing that he was a handsome young man when he was young. But he is like a CCTV host surnamed Li, his chin is longer than ordinary people, and his chin is still bent outward, much like the image of Osiris on the small wooden card.

It's just that this is very rude, so Xiao Yifei forcibly changed his laughter to a smile and shook hands with Bart.

Concubine Yue hugged Bart's wife, Daphne, and then introduced them: "Mr. Bart, this is Shaw, he is interested in buying the winery. ”

"You're welcome."

"Thank you."

Then a few people started to tour the winery, the interior of the building is much the same, there are tasting rooms, wineries, wine cellars and so on, and the main place they visit is the vineyard outside.

"This one, this one, and the vineyards that follow the foot of the mountain, is our most famous vineyard of Essella. Let's go there first. ”

Rows of vines are planted in the vineyards, and it is the time when the grapes are just blooming. At this time, the grapes have just finished their rapid growth of branches and leaves, and they have moved on to the first stages of growth. It is also from this period that the vineyard enters the peak employment period, which requires topping, piggybacking, tying, cutting, flower thinning, ear thinning and other work, which will continue until the end of October.

Now many workers are working in the vineyards, and they are all sitting on stools, but the four legs of the stool have become four wheels, and they are busy in the lush grape leaves along the grape procession.

Xiao Yifei can be said to not understand at all, he only pays attention to one point, under the first wire of the grape trellis, there is a water pipe, and the position of each grape vine has a dripper, this is the drip irrigation device that Xiao Yifei is most concerned about. And it was because of the lack of this thing that he completely gave up Bordeaux, France, and went to Napa to buy a winery.

It is not the grapes that Xiao Yifei feels most familiar with at the winery, but the olive trees, which Bart claims to maintain the diversity of the vineyard and has planted 1,000 olive trees, so it also produces a small amount of olive oil. If he buys it, he won't have to worry about finding a deceptive source for the olive oil in the space. In addition, the Luiglatour family's test on the concentration of the two types of spatial water required for olives has not yet been completely completed, so it is just right to borrow these olive trees for testing.

Bart and the others have been farming the vineyard organically since 1998, and in Xiao Yifei's opinion, his so-called organic farming is a bit ridiculous. It is said that it does not use sulfur to kill mold, but uses milk to water the ground, and it also raises chickens to catch insects and uses cattle to plough the land. It's completely retro-style.

Of course, this also led to a low grape yield, with only 4,000 cases per year. This may seem like a lot, but it's important to know that 60 percent of Napa's wineries produce less than 5,000 cases. But don't dismiss him for a small production, his most expensive wine, Arojo Esera Cabernet Sauvignon, sells for more than $1,000 a bottle in the mall. Of course, you can also get it cheaply, that is, wait in line and wait for the winery to send it to you according to the list in a few years.

Xiao Yifei regrets that the winery's output is too small, less than 50,000 bottles, so it is estimated that the profit can still be 20 or 30 million. Aroju asked for $180 million. This price directly made Xiao Yifei give up his intention to negotiate.

Speaking of which, this winery is quite suitable for Xiao Yifei, after the optimization of the space, for example, it can make the quality of the grapes to a higher level, sell at a better price, and earn more profits.

But the shortcomings of this winery are also very distinct, not to mention the price, just to say that the retro operation of the egg pain made Xiao Yifei crazy, thinking that this was purely a gimmick. He was also worried that if the switch to mechanization was not recognized by consumers, the business would fail completely.

The grapes that Xiao Yifei has seen before are table grapes, and table grape growers pay attention to how to produce a good yield, but when they come here, they pay attention to how to limit production. For example, for Cabernet Sauvignon, the goal is to limit the yield to 1 to 2 tons per acre, and for Chardonnay, the requirement is to control the yield to 3 to 4 tons. Throughout the Napa Valley, 44,000 acres of grapes are planted, and 140,000 tons of grapes can be harvested each year, which is an average yield of 3 tons per acre.

If converted into domestic area units, it is an average yield of about 500 kilograms per mu. If this yield is table grapes, the grower will lose even his pants.

Compared to the Central Valley region, where wine grapes are also grown, Napa yields are even more pitiful, where the highest yield per acre is 10 tons. That's why the average price of wine grapes in California is $2,500 a ton, Napa grapes are 4,500 a ton, and Cabernet Sauvignon is as high as $5,000 a ton, which is why Napa can produce 30% of the grapes in California. Of course, it is also the reason why Xiao Yifei chose Napa.

(Let me tell you quietly, the benchmark price of Australian grapes is $250 per tonne.) ）

Napa Valley is blessed with a mild climate with plenty of sunshine throughout the year, a large temperature difference between morning and evening, and low rainfall. Thousands of years of crustal movement have enriched the soil of Napa Valley with a variety of minerals. Such a good winemaking environment is rare in the world, comparable to that of Bordeaux in France.

Napa Valley is only one-eighth the size of Bordeaux, and in addition to more than 40,000 acres of grapes, it is also home to more than 400 wineries, 95% of which are small family-run wineries. For example, some wineries do not sell wine at all, and the only way to buy it is to go to the winery. Some wineries specialize in niche routes and produce some wines with unique tastes, which are said to be quite popular, and the orders for this winery are queued for a few years.

In general, at present, large wineries, such as Mondavian Winery, Deer Leap Winery, Howling Eagle Winery, etc., have no intention of making a move, but there are still many wineries whose economic situation is not very optimistic. Many of these wineries are niche wines, and they are nicknamed cult wines.

For example, the Sloanestate they're going to visit today.