The third controversy is the price of the vineyards.

Bo asked for more than $300,000 per acre on the grounds that there were many old vines in their vineyard and the average age of the vines was over 20 years old. But now Napa's top vineyards are 300,000 per acre, and the average vineyard is less than 200,000. So this issue also needs to be well negotiated.

The fourth controversy is the brand value of Château Monterrey.

Monterena was first judged by Paris but was featured in Time magazine, and was a household name in the United States at the time, and still has a great reputation and many loyal fans. Beau considers Monterena's brand to be worth 20 million. Xiao Yifei: They definitely don't approve of this price.

It is also the bad luck of the Monterena winery. The "Paris Judgment" that made Château Monterena famous took place in May 1976, when Château Monterena only began producing red wines in 1973 and produced only 3,000 cases. Unfortunately, the wines came out too late, they were bottled in July 1973 and officially released in November 1976. In other words, even if the winery wants to participate in the red wine judging, there are no red wines, so only Chardonnay white wines that have only been on sale for a few months can participate. But this batch of 73-year-old Chardonnay defeated the fierce rival of Burgundy in France and won the championship in one fell swoop.

If their predecessor had bought the winery as a retirement home, and the Taiwanese mechanical and electrical engineers who had left Yuhu behind had replanted the vines, so that Jimmy Barrett didn't have to replant them all after taking over the winery, they would have been able to produce red wine at that time. If the winery had Cabernet Sauvignon at that time, if the winery had taken the first few rankings, the winery would definitely be different. It's a pity that history is history, and it doesn't recognize ifs, so the winery's brand is certainly not worth 20 million.

The fifth is the copyright of the movie "Bottle Strike", which Monterena participated in the investment and finally bought the DVD rights, so that he could sell the DVD of the film as a gift at the winery or give it to customers to expand the reputation of the winery. He valued the rights to the film at $7 million.

In addition to these four points of dispute, the other winery buildings include the Jade Lake and the stone castle built in 1882, the two villas of Bo and Jimmy in the vineyard, the winery equipment including pressing, fermentation, bottling and other production lines, oak barrels, etc., all the machinery of the vineyard, etc., these things are not much disputed by the two parties. So the two sides began to have a fierce confrontation around these four key issues.

Xiao Yifei was not interested in such negotiations, and he decided to go out for a walk.

As soon as you leave the winery, you can see St. Helena Mountain in the distance, which is said to be a state forest park. Louis. Steven and his wife lived there, and the park was named after him in his honor.

Continuing north along the trail between the Jade Lake and the Napa River, is what they call Lot 1a, which is nearly 6 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon planted in 1973 and has workers busy inside.

"Xiao, why did you come out, are you done negotiating?"

David emerged from the vineyards.

"Hey, David, are you still busy?"

"Yes, summer is the busiest time of the year in the vineyards."

"I'm not used to that kind of negotiation, come out and see. Don't they all say that good wine is grown, let me take a look at the vineyards. ”

The phrase "good wine is grown" is not a compliment to David's words, but a famous sentence in the wine industry, I don't know who said the original words, anyway, it emphasizes the importance of grapes, and the domestic saying "seven points of grapes and three points of wine" has the same effect.

Apparently this sentence made David happy:

"I'll show you around the vineyards."

"Don't delay your work, will you?"

"It's okay, our job is to supervise and inspect the quality of the work of temporary workers."

This is also the case, if such a large vineyard only relies on a few of their regular workers, it will be exhausting for them to finish, and a large number of temporary workers still have to rely on seasonal hired temporary workers.

"Well, people say 'good grapes come out by foot', and we're going to step on them today."

The two of them walked in the vineyard, David is worthy of being a veteran who has worked for more than 20 years, and it is clear which plot, what variety, how large area, how many grapes, and which year they were planted.

Xiao Yifei found the same grape field, the other grapes have thick trunks, grow tall, but the grapes here are obviously very young, just a few leaves have emerged, and a fist-sized paper ring surrounds the grape seedlings.

"What's going on with this land?"

"This is plot 1c, which we just replanted in May. The other half is what we intend to replant next year. ”

Xiao Yifei checked the information and found that grape vines have a lifespan, and the general lifespan of grapes is 60 years, but according to management, land, weather and other reasons, the actual lifespan may far exceed this number.

Generally speaking, the vine will not bear fruit in the first two years, and only a small amount will bear fruit in the third year, but in order to ensure the growth of the grapes, the flowers in the third year will be artificially removed, so that the vine does not bear fruit and allows it to focus on growth. From the beginning of the fourth year, let it bear a small amount of fruit.

In the first 10 years, the vines are young and the vines are not deeply rooted, resulting in wines with fresh fruity aromas, but they do not last long.

The next 30 years are the peak fruiting period, when the roots of the vines penetrate deep into the soil, bringing a rich mineral richness and a particularly suitable flavour.

After that, the vines enter old age and their yields decline. It seems that Beau re-planned the winery after being rejected by the French.

"We also replanted the 1g plot by the river in May, and the 1I plot was replanted last year."

Xiao Yifei pointed to another plot on the side of the road and asked:

"This is also from last year?"

"This is the 1J plot, which we replanted in '07."

Xiao Yifei immediately thought that grape seedlings were needed in the Osiris space, and he didn't know how to manage the seedling stage of grapes.

After David's explanation of these plots in recent years, Xiao Yifei understood the entire process of grape planting.

After fertilising the ground on the ground, the grapes are planted according to the planned plant spacing and row spacing, and rows of cement piles are laid, followed by four wires.

In the first year of planting, the grape seedlings basically do not need to be managed, only two points need to be done, one is the fist-sized paper circle, which is to prevent pests from harming the seedlings. The second is that if there is nothing to cling to, the young vines will grow on their stomachs on the ground, just like in space. At this point, a stick of wood is inserted into each grape plant to allow the vine to grow upwards.

In the first year, the task of the vines is to grow as much as possible, mainly the growth of the root system, which can only provide the nutrients needed for the second year's tree management.

When it is time to cut the grapes in winter, the main stem should be cut below the first wire. When spring arrives, the vines develop side branches, and in June, the two best developed side branches are selected and tied to the first wire, which will later become the arms of the tree. The other side branches must be pruned, and the nutrients are only provided to the arms for development.

In the second year, when pruning, the side branches on both arms are cut short, and the tree shape can be maintained by wiping the buds and removing the top during the winter pruning and growth period.

In the third year, the grapes begin to bear fruit in small quantities. At this time, all the flowers and fruits should be removed, so that the nutrients are only for the grapes to grow.

In the fourth year, the grapes were able to bear fruit normally.

Once the grapes bear fruit, this shape divides the vine into three basic functional zones: the root zone, the fruiting zone, and the canopy zone. Below is the bare roots, the waist is a cluster of fruits, and the top is a brush of branches and leaves. In this way, the vines are clearly partitioned, and the fruit at the waist is not blocked by the foliage at the top, ensuring that the fruit has enough sunlight. The light from the roots also does not block the circulation of air, allowing the grapes to cool down quickly at night. In addition, the 60 cm ground clearance also ensures that the grapes are protected from the invasion of bacteria on the surface.

David's explanation made Xiao Yifei's heart moved, this structure is really beautiful, and this vineyard looks very refreshing and neat. Moreover, a vine is like a small factory with an assembly line: the root zone at the bottom supports the tree and absorbs water and nutrients; The canopy at the top of the tree is responsible for photosynthesis, which is responsible for the production of carbohydrates, i.e. sugars, which are delivered to the branches and fruits; In the central fruiting area, the main propagation is the growth of grapes, which accumulate flavor compounds and sugars.

He wished that the space would be full of these neat vines, but unfortunately he had to start slowly.

"Where did you buy your grape seedlings?"

David raised his hand and pointed to the opposite mountain:

"There are several nurseries along Highway 128 in the Samurai Valley, all of which are of good quality. There are also several nurseries on Santa Rosa's side, which can be seen along the road. ”

Xiao Yifei kept the location in mind and changed the topic. There is a hill in front of it, and the hill bag forces the winery's vineyard into a "saxophone" shape. At the foot of the hill there was a small vineyard carved out of the hills, and he had seen the map of the winery and knew that it was plot 4.90B, which belonged to the winery. So he pointed to the hill and asked:

"Whose bag does this mountain bag belong to?"

"That one is the winery's, this 4.90B plot, which we reclaimed in the 90's. There is also an I90a plot on the back of the mountain bag that was also reclaimed in 90, and several other plots 89a, B, c, and D were reclaimed in 89. This piece is Cabernet Franc, and the back is Cabernet Sauvignon. ”

"Can you cultivate it casually?"

"We didn't reclaim it casually, the county board of supervisors has a line of control, and we all reclaimed within the line of control. And we didn't get much more, no one cared about it. ”

"Can it still be cultivated?"

"Yes, the gentle slopes on this side can be cultivated, but their soil is too poor and not cost-effective."