Riding the wind of rebirth

"It's in the trunk of the car." Mai Xiaomiao jumped out to get the wine.

Madge was so scared that he quickly called Zhou Zhi: "George, go and have a look, don't let Xiao Miao fall, it will be a big loss..."

Actually, McGeoff still felt a little sad just now. Zhou Zhi had made it very clear that it was clearly a gift for him and his wife, but Xiao Miao was so active in the exchange and did not consider the feelings of the father next to him at all.

But now that he knew how expensive the wine was, there was no way he could accept such an expensive gift. He felt that it was quite good to have encountered this.

It's enough to broaden their horizons. If they really accept it, the couple will probably have to think about how to preserve the wine.

Soon Zhou Zhi and Mai Xiaomiao brought in the wine.

The packaging of the wine bottles in 1882 was very simple, the bottles were green glass bottles with oak corks and a layer of wax-like substance on the outside. After a hundred years of storage, the glass bottles had become somewhat cloudy, and the bottle labels on the bottles were also very simple, just light brown label paper with a few words and numbers written diagonally on them - Egon Müller, Scharzhofberg, Sankt Maria von Trier, , TBA.

There was a line of small words written in pen below: "To dear Stokowski, your Morogran."

"Mr. Jean Denod, take a look." Zhou Zhi put the wine directly on the table without handing it to the old man.

I don’t know if foreigners have similar rules, but Zhouzhi still adheres to the traditions of the domestic cultural relics industry.

The old man carefully held the bottle in his hand and turned it around to examine it. He then carefully checked the seal of the wine and even put his nose to the wax seal to smell it. Finally, he carefully identified the label and nodded, saying, "This is it. If Mr. Zhou agrees to exchange it, I can write you a check right now."

"Open." McGeff nodded. Although he was a little jealous of Mai Xiaomiao's behavior just now, it did not stop him from acting like a parent and making the decision for the children.

"Although I have had this wine for a while, I have not studied it at all." Zhou Zhi said with a smile, "Before we change hands, I would like to ask you to help us explain the knowledge contained in it, so that we don't say that we know nothing and make people laugh at us."

Jean Denaud looked at the light green wine bottle on the table as if he were looking at a rare treasure: "In early October 1794, the French army captured Cologne and Bonn in Germany and occupied the entire Rhine region, which is rich in fine wine. This represented the French Revolution breaking the authority and church power, and the free atmosphere of aristocratic rule also spread to this closed river valley."

"The huge vineyards owned by numerous churches and nobles were confiscated and auctioned off, and small-scale vineyards were established like mushrooms after a rain. This massive reform opened a new era for German wine and also led to the birth of the winery that produces the world's most expensive wine - Egon Miller Winery."

"The history of Egon Miller's winery can be traced back to the Monastery of Santa Maria built in the 6th century." The old man pointed to the words "Sankt Maria von Trier" on the bottle label and explained: "This is the name of the monastery, and Scharzhofberg is the hill where the monastery is located. As French forces entered the Rhine River Basin and the 'return of church property to secular' movement unfolded, Egon Miller's great-grandfather Koch took the opportunity to purchase this winery."

“After Koch’s death, the vineyard was divided equally among his seven children. However, the wine made from the Riesling grapes produced by the winery is still named after Egon Müller.”

This explains the meaning of the words on the label. Zhou Zhi pointed to the number 1882 and said, "Then this must be two labels. What does the remaining TBA mean?"

"Oh, my boss is so lucky." Jean Denaud said with a smile, "Mr. Zhou must not drink alcohol normally, right? If he had done some research, this wine would probably not be here today." Zhou Zhi shook his head and said, "We drink alcohol too, but we prefer the strong liquor brewed in China. We don't really have a hobby of drinking wine."

"German white wine is divided into six grades," Jean Denaud introduced: from bottom to top: Kabinitt, late harvest Spatlese, selected wine Auslese, berry selection BA, ice wine Eiswein and dry berry selection TBA. "

"The Egon Miller family owns about seven hectares of hillside land on Schatzberg Mountain, with a slope of 50 degrees. In recent years, they have acquired another five hectares of parkland nearby, bringing the total area to 12 hectares."

"All the trees there are Riesling, about 8,000 per hectare. Most of them are over 50 or 60 years old, and many were planted before World War II."

"Because of the cold climate in Germany, most grapes grow on the steep slopes along the Rhine River, so the yield is naturally reduced. Someone once calculated that with the same area, the Sauternes region in France can produce 50,000 bottles of dry berry wine, while the Rhine region in Germany can only produce 250 bottles."

"And the dry berry selected wine marked with the Santa Maria Monastery mark is strictly controlled and brewed from grapes selected from the oldest, highest quality, and most rare old tree trunks berries within 500 meters around the monastery. The annual output will not exceed five bottles, and it is not available every year."

"Nowadays, German selected dried berries are the target of market competition every year. Wine made purely from selected dried berries has basically disappeared. This kind of wine, in which every grape is completely withered and turned into raisins before being harvested and aged for at least ten years before being bottled, has become a thing of the past."

"A treasure like the 1882 Egon is a masterpiece created by God and man. God is responsible for the climate, sunshine, rain, and frost, while man is responsible for the selection and brewing." Jean Denaud showed an intoxicated look on his face: "It is elegant and delicate, like a beautiful woman in plain makeup. It is the best wine in the world."

"So that's how it is." Zhou Zhi smiled: "Fortunately we didn't drink it, otherwise it would have been a waste. Only a sophisticated researcher like you can appreciate its preciousness."

"Then let's exchange and each get what we need."

Jean Denaud breathed a sigh of relief, his face full of smiles: "Then I will write a check to Mr. Zhou now, and today's meal will be waived for everyone, as a thank you to these distinguished guests."

After coming out of the restaurant, McGeve got into the Beetle that Zhou Zhi rented and asked Zhou Zhi, "Are all of you who study antiques like this? This business is run without any worldly touches. You have to be as polite as you can."

"It depends on who the target is." Zhou Zhi said with a smile: "I took Xiao Miao to a large cultural relics market in our country, and there were many intrigues and deceptions there."

"Yes, that's it!" Mai Xiaomiao nodded in approval.

"But today's situation is a little different." Zhou Zhi said, "The restaurant owner should be a very prestigious person, and the person I interceded for is Mr. An Siyuan, the most important antique dealer in New York. We all want to save face and abide by the rules, so there is no need to guess the price. We can just talk based on the current market price plus a little premium. Not only will it be easier to close the deal, but it will also avoid embarrassment in the future."

"After all, when you really reach Mr. An's level, it's basically a very small circle. Everyone is more careful about their reputation, and transactions are more transparent."

"I understand." (End of this chapter)