Chapter 1095: Chapter 1095: Top Wine Estates
Xia Yu helped the Rothschild family retain ownership of the name Edmond de Rothschild Bank, thereby regaining a full banking license.
The Rothschild family, in turn, sold their stakes in Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered, held by Barclays Bank, to Xia Yu at a 25% premium.
As for the stake in BP, Xia Yu did not get it.
Xia Yu guarded against the Rothschild family reneging, and the Rothschild family were equally worried that Xia Yu was cheating them.
However, as Xia Yu was in the driving seat, he proposed to obtain the shares of Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered Bank first.
However, he was also willing to sign a secret agreement, which stipulated that there was a one-month safety period for the purchase of the shares of the two banks. If Xia Yu was unsuccessful, then the cooperation would fail and the shares of the two banks would need to be returned to Barclays Bank, and Xia Yu would also need to pay a certain amount of liquidated damages.
After the negotiations were settled, the atmosphere of the conversation became much more harmonious, at least on the surface.
Just as Xia Yu was about to say goodbye, he saw David Locher just take a bottle of red wine out of the closet and smile at Xia Yu and say, 'Mr Xia, to celebrate our reaching a cooperation, would you like to have some wine?'
'From our family's Lafite estate, 1787, it has been stored for nearly 200 years, it is definitely a treat!'
Xia Yu glanced at Guy Locher and Davis Locher.
In the West, some people use champagne to celebrate the conclusion of a collaboration, while others prefer red wine, especially in France, where people love red wine. Xia Yu was not surprised.
Since the wine had already been brought over, he could not refuse.
He smiled and nodded, saying, 'I have never tasted Lafite 1787, so I think it will be a real treat!'
Hearing Xia Yu's words, David Lochill smiled, uncorked the bottle and poured into the glasses with an elegant gesture.
'Clink!'
'To a successful collaboration!'
'Of course, a happy collaboration!'
The three glasses clinked, Xia Yu, who was a little slow on the uptake, glanced at David Lochill and Guy Lochill and saw that they had actually drunk the wine. He then took a sip without making a sound and savoured the taste.
The nearly 200-year-old Lafite Rothschild was very soft on the palate, with a strong mellow fragrance that came from the time it had been aged and fermented.
It really was very good!
Xia Yu smiled and praised, 'The wine has a rich aroma and a very good taste!'
David Lochill was very pleased with Xia Yu's praise, and he said with a smile, 'Mr Xia, if you like Lafite, there isn't much of the 1787 vintage left, but there is some that has been stored for over a hundred years. I'll have someone send some to your home.'
Xia Yu smiled and shook his head to decline politely, saying, 'Mr. David Lochill, thank you for your generosity, but no, the LVMH Group also owns thousands of acres of vineyards. Although most of them produce champagne and brandy, there are still some high-quality red wines.'
David Lochill said with a hint of regret, 'Okay then!'
...
On the way back, Xia Yu couldn't help but sneer at the sense of pride and superiority that David Loheir had shown when talking about Château Lafite Rothschild while they were at Guy Loheir's house.
But it was also because of David Loheir's performance that Xia Yu realised that as the current wine industry magnate behind the scenes in France, not having a top-notch wine estate was a bit out of character for him.
And to be honest, in France, the country of wine, owning a top-notch wine estate would undoubtedly help him expand his reputation and contacts.
And considering the prosperity of the wine market in the future, buying one or two top-notch wine estates now would be a sure-fire business.
Having made up his mind, Xia Yu immediately asked Léo Martin to gather information on top French wine estates upon his return to the company to see which ones would be more suitable for acquisition.
At the same time, Xia Yu also called George Berkeley in London, informing him of the terms he had negotiated with the Rothschild family and instructing him to arrange for a team to go to Barclays Bank as soon as possible to complete the acquisition.
On January 28, when he received news from George Berkeley that he had completed the acquisition of a majority stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered Bank, Xia Yu was overjoyed. Finally, in addition to Jiuding Bank and the island nation's Chiba Bank, he had two more major banks that he could use with complete confidence!
He then secretly called François Mitterrand to thank him for his help and inform him of the relaxed conditions of the Rothschild family. François Mitterrand agreed very easily and also congratulated Xia Yu.
That afternoon, Léo Martin also very efficiently collected information on the top French wine estates.
After entering Xia Yu's office, Léo Martin reported to Xia Yu with the information in his arms: 'Boss, Alain Chevalier is very familiar with the wine industry. I asked him to help me collect information together. This information has been triple-checked and should be the most detailed!'
'Léo, you've worked hard. Put the material down for now. If there's anything else, I'll have someone let you know!'
Xia Yu said with a satisfied smile, dismissing Léo Martin.
Then he leafed through the information on France's top wine estates.
The world's most famous wines are made in France, and the ten best French wine brands are produced in the ten most famous French wine estates!
These ten famous wine estates are Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Latour, Château Mouton Rothschild, Château Margaux, Château Haut-Brion, Château Petrus, Château Cheval Blanc, Château Ausone, Château Rieussec and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.
Lafite, Latour, Mouton, Margaux, Haut-Brion are also known as the 'five great chateaux', because these five top wine estates are all located on the left bank of Bordeaux.
In addition, there are three more famous chateaux on the right bank of Bordeaux: Petrus, Cheval Blanc and Ausone.
So together with the 'five great chateaux' on the left bank, they are also known as the 'eight great chateaux of Bordeaux'!
It can be said that Bordeaux is the main producing area for top French red wines.
Of course, Rieussec is now only a distant second.
But it's different with Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, which is located in the Burgundy region and is widely considered the world's top red wine estate.
This superb vineyard, located in the heart of the Côte de Nuits region of Burgundy, is enough on its own to elevate the Burgundy region to the same level as Bordeaux.
Moreover, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti is also one of the oldest wine estates in France, dating back to the 11th century when it belonged to the Abbey of Saint-Vivant-de-Vigy.
These days, when thinking about acquisition targets for wine estates, Xia Yu's favourite is Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. If you're going to buy one, you have to buy the best!
After reading the information, his mind was even more determined.
Compared to the Rothschild family's Château Lafite Rothschild, which produces about 210,000 bottles per year, the annual production of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti is controlled at about 6,000 bottles. Although one reason is that the area of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti is smaller than that of Château Lafite Rothschild, another important reason is that Domaine de la Romanée-Conti attaches great importance to quality, and almost every three grapes can produce one bottle of wine.
The winery, which was taken over by Prince de Conti, a cousin of Louis XV, and renamed in his honour in 1760, has changed hands several times over the past two hundred years, the last time in 1942, when the Divo-Blochet and Henri Lurçat families each took a 50% stake!
Neither of these families were the original owners of Romanée-Conti, and without the factor of family pride, Xia Yu could have simply bought Romanée-Conti with money!
If a 50% premium doesn't work, then double it, and if that doesn't work, then triple it. He doesn't believe that the Divo-Bloché and Henri-Lévarre families can withstand the franc offensive.
Anyway, the value of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti has an amazing future potential. A bottle of Romanée-Conti 1945 sold for 3.86 million yuan before Xia Yu was reborn, setting a world record for red wine!
There are hundreds of bottles of the 1945 vintage in the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti cellar. If just one of these bottles is stored until the future and properly managed, it could sell for hundreds of millions of dollars!
It is simply too good a deal to pass up!
Then Xia Yu considered that the production of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti is indeed too low, and that the Rothschild family, in addition to owning Château Lafite, also owns Château Mouton Rothschild. It would be a bit shabby for him to own just one Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.
After careful consideration, he also selected Château Latour, which was named the second of the 'Four Great Growths' by Napoleon III in 1855.
Although Château Latour was ranked below Château Lafite Rothschild in the first classification in 1855, after these years of development, Château Latour is similar to Château Lafite Rothschild, that is, the annual production of Château Latour is only 200,000 bottles, which is 10,000 bottles less than that of Château Lafite Rothschild.
However, considering that the Mouton Rothschild of the Rothschild family was not even ranked among the five great châteaux of the Left Bank until 1973, and was only one of the second-class châteaux in 1855,
if Xia Yu could own Château Latour and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, he would actually be much better off than the Rothschild family.
Château Latour was also very easy to acquire. In 1963, the Segur family sold the château to an English earl.
If we follow the historical trajectory, Château Latour would have been repurchased by the French Kering Group in 1993, bringing ownership back to France.
Of course, the previous life was after all the previous life, and in this life Château Latour was targeted by Xia Yu, so naturally there was no business for the Kering Group!
After setting his sights on his prey, Xia Yu called in Léo Martin to take charge of the acquisition of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, and then he called George Berkeley in London to arrange for someone to go find the British count and buy Château Latour.
After these two chateaux are acquired, Xia Yu believes that his quality of life will definitely improve.
Time flies, and the two days passed in a flash!
As the scorching sun in the east slowly rose, it heralded the beginning of February.
This day was also the day of the global release of the Economic Weekly!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone