Argentina are still commemorating their World Cup win, while fraud investigators are looking into a Chinese group in Bordeaux.
© Pixabay|Argentina’s footballers are preparing yourself to move into red wine production following their World Cup success.
Perhaps it’s the run-up to Christmas and the New Year but much of the world’s wine media was quiet on the news front this week.
The huge story, however, was news that the Pinault family’s Artémis Domaines holding group had purchased Champagne Jacquesson.
On the other hand, still in Champagne, news of a serious case of scams (in which unauthorized grapes were blended with Champagne grapes) emerged in the French and English press mid-week.
However here are some of the stories you might have missed:
World Cup Winners’ Red Wines
Mendoza-based paper Los Andes added a local take to the Argentinian World Cup celebrations today with a run-down of the members of the nationwide team with their own white wines. While the paper went through the nationwide team-members from the World Cup-winning sides of 1978 and 1986 (consisting of a Diego Armanda Maradona Cabernet Sauvignon-Malbec from 2002), we’ll just concentrate on last weekend’s lineup.
First off– “working from back to front”, in the words of the paper– was River Plate goalkeeper Franco “El Pulpo” (the Octopus) Armani and his eponymous Malbec produced by Finca Cuadro Benegas in San Rafael. The white wine seems produced in both standard and Gran Reserva formats.
Next was midfielder Leandro Paredes and his Mi Victoria (“My Victory”) label– also a Gran Reserva and yet another Malbec– made by Bodegas Barberis in main Mendoza. Also on the lineup, however yet to produce his own label was striker Lautaro Martínez who, according to the paper, purchased “some hundred-year-old vineyards in the Las Compuertas area of Luján de Cuyo” with partner Agustina Gandolfo in 2021.
Along with specialist wine maker Federico Isgró, “the [Inter Milan] striker and his partner are set to launch a Malbec on the marketplace, although the date is not yet verified”.
Last but not least came Lionel Messi. Although the captain and striker of nationwide squad is currently understood for his L10 white wine, produced by Bodegas Bianchi for Messi’s Leo Messi Foundation, Los Andes added that Messi is set to launch his own red wine in cooperation with Bianchi’s wine maker Silvio Alberto.
Concerns raised over Chinese residential or commercial properties in Bordeaux
On the other hand in Bordeaux, regional newspaper Sud-Ouest ran a profile growing and fall of the portfolio of homes coming from the China-based Haichang group. Around 10 years ago the group had, through its subsidiary Lamont Vins, obtained around twenty entry-level and mid-range estates in the broader Bordeaux location.
10 of the estates– including Château Sogeant in Saint-Caprais-de-Bordeaux southeast of Bordeaux town– were seized by French officials 4 years ago throughout an examination into scams, tax evasion, forgery and money laundering. It is now unclear (no-one reacted to Sud-Ouest’s calls) just what is happening at Haichang/Lamont Vins.
“In terms of volume, they had purchased almost anything and whatever– little and big farms all over the place,” Christian Delpeuch, former head of the Bordeaux white wine trade body, the CIVB, and expert to the group in 2010.
According to the paper, the head of the enterprise, Naijie Qu, had actually even developed a collaboration with the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce; set up a wine fair in Dalian in eastern China; and boasted the previous supervisor of Château Mouton Rothschild, Patrick Léon, as part of his entourage.
“By the summertime of 2018, the French courts, under the aegis of the National Financial District attorney’s Office, seized ten estates,” said the paper. “Of the EUR55 million invested by the Haichang group in [the region], a part would have included Chinese state help intended for financial investments in brand-new innovation.”
“Various other criminal activities are under the microscopic lense in an investigation yet to reveal all of its tricks,” added the publication. Only six châteaux with a combined coverage of 190 hectares (470 acres) stay under Haichang/Lamont Vins’ control.
Spanish white wine exports to Asia plunge
According to figures launched by the Spanish White Wine Market Observatory (OEMV) this week, Spanish red wine consumption has actually dropped in Asia with a fall in export volume of just over 11 percent. Although in worth terms, Spanish white wine exports to the continent fell by just half a percent (generally due to inflation), the Chinese market has actually seen a drop of 20 percent in value and 31 percent in volume for Spanish white wines.
As such, Japan has overtaken China as the prime location for Spanish wines in Asia. Exports to Japan increased by 13 percent in value and almost seven percent in volume.
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