The Wine Master chuckled. "I'm already pleasantly surprised. After all, this is a Romanee-Conti made in the New Era!
Given a few more years, I'm sure it'll get even better.
Aubert de Villaine, worthy of his reputation as one of the Three Gods of Wine.
Actually, Romanee-Conti doesn't know as much as Croparus, but it's easy to compare.
Henri Jayer is even more demanding. He only brews a dozen bottles a year, but Romanee-Conti produces about five thousand bottles a year. That's several times more than Henri Jayer. "
Gates listened to their comments, and frowned. "Gentlemen, please come with me to see Monseigneur de Villaine."
The three of them nodded at the same time. Soon, they returned to the front of the ancient tree.
Aubert de Villaine didn't immediately ask them how they felt about the wine. Instead, his aged voice seemed even more weathered than before.
"In truth, I should have died a long time ago. Two hundred years ago, I should have left this world.
But I couldn't bear to. I couldn't bear to leave like this. "
"I've always been conflicted. When I was young, my goal was to become a master winemaker. All my teachers told me I had talent.
Whether it's in terms of taste, grapes, or wine, I have a unique advantage. "
"At that time, I worked very hard. Almost every day I improved. Every day I grew stronger.
It wasn't long before I began to make a name for myself as a master winemaker.
But as time went on, I came to realize there's a strange thing about wine. The better the wine, the poorer the winery.
The poorer the winery.
Because …
The best wine must be made with the harshest methods possible.
Even picking grapes requires a full moon. If there's no full moon, it's better to let the grapes rot in the soil than to use them to make wine.
That's the only way to make the best wine possible.
But the wineries that make cheap, ordinary wines are rich.
Their wines are low quality, but they sell like hotcakes.
The biggest winemaker in Burgundy sells eight million bottles a year. "
"My worldview was shaken. Why can't the best produce make the most money?
So I began my research. It took me thirty years to find the right balance.
That was how the DRC came into being.
However, unknowingly, my perception of wine and grapes was no longer as sharp as before. Too much money had caused my heart to become impetuous. "
"In the early years.
I had never seen Henri Jayer as an opponent, because in my eyes.
He's just an ordinary farmer, and I'm the heir to the de Villaine family. I own fifty percent of the shares in the DRC.
But when I really made the DRC the top wine merchant in Burgundy, I realized that I could no longer catch up to him. "
"It was then that I gradually realized that I really couldn't compare to him. It turned out that what I loved the most was still brewing wine.
And so, I tried to catch up. Together with Bize, I worked hard to develop a biodynamic brewing method to improve the quality of DRC.
During that time, we did many things together. Our entire lives were dedicated to wine, and we even delayed our marriage. But that was the happiest time of my life.
Every day with Beth, we work together, and our relationship is getting better and better.
Finally, one day, I felt that our wine was good enough. So, we invited Henri Jayer, who looked like an old farmer. "
"Henri Jayer came to our winery, and I personally showed him around. I wanted to show him the power of the DRC, and the greatness of our biodynamics."
"But when he saw the vines, he said that to him, the vines were like his life, like his companions.
When the vines are sick, we need to give them the right amount of fertilizer. When the vines need something, we need to give it. We shouldn't go after a certain concept. "
"At the time, I was not convinced. I asked him, 'Can your wine compare to my Romanee-Conti?'
At the time, he knew that the vines were not mature enough to produce any fruit.
After tasting the Romanee-Conti, he told me that he was willing to help me make a year's worth of Romanee-Conti.
He asked me to give him some of the grapes from the Conti. "
"At the time, I was very arrogant.
I agreed, and together with Beth, we made a year's worth of Romanee-Conti.
After that, we worked together, devoting ourselves to making wine.
That was the only time Henri Jayer ever made wine at the DRC.
He would come every day to see the vines I had given him, and what he was doing there. "
"Soon, more than two years passed.
The wine we made was ready to be bottled.
Beth and I worked together to make twenty barrels of Romanee-Conti, which added up to six thousand bottles.
Henri, on the other hand, only made a small barrel, which could only hold a hundred and fifty bottles.
Based on the vines I had given him, he should have been able to make at least five hundred bottles.
At first, I thought he was taking advantage of the grapes, but he told me that he wasn't. The only reason he could make so little was because there were only so few that met his standards. "
"And so, two bottles of Romanee-Conti, but with his and Beth's names written on them, were placed on the table.
At the time, Beth and I did not believe that the Conti we knew would be inferior to him. "
Aubert de Villaine paused for a moment. "But when two glasses of Romanee-Conti of the same color were placed in front of us, it was not long before we suffered the greatest failure of our lives.
Henri Jayer took a whiff of our Conti, then rose to his feet. He told me that he was very grateful to me for giving him the opportunity to work with the vines in the Conti, and that he would give all of his Romanee-Conti to me and Beth.
After that, he left. "
"At first, I thought that was his way of admitting defeat.
But when I smelled his Conti, tasted its powerful tannins, and felt its unimaginable aroma, I knew I was wrong.
Beth and I had lost, and we had lost so badly.
Henri Jayer spent more than two years teaching us how to make the most powerful wine. "
"That was a huge blow to me, so much so that for a time, I was unable to recover.
Then, to add to the pain, Beth left me.
She went to Henri Jayer's vineyard, and began making wine with him.
Even though I knew that she had gone to him because of his winemaking skills, I was still filled with jealousy and hatred.
I worked hard, hoping to surpass Henri Jayer in winemaking. I used the strictest method possible to select the grapes.
But then, his wines appeared. Henri Jayer's Cros Parisien, Ritchie, Richebourg.
Out of nowhere.
Because of the small volume, he could not influence my DRC. But from that moment on, I was no longer the God of Wine.
There can only be one person who can ascend to the top. "
"Then he died.
Haha, he died.
I went to Beth, hoping that she would come back to me.
But Beth refused. She said that she had fallen in love with Henri Jayer. Even if he was dead, she would love him forever.
Beth gave up her shares in the DRC, and returned to her family's estate to manage the Leroy brand. "
"Rumors spread that I had driven her out of the DRC, but who could understand my pain?
She was the only woman I had ever loved in my life.
But she fell in love with a man I could never defeat. "
"I live on, strong and determined. There is only one thing that keeps me going, and that is to surpass Henri Jayer.
Although he was dead, his wine was still passed down, so I bought a lot of his wine at a high price.
If I couldn't beat him, I would continue to make wine. If I couldn't beat him, I would continue to make wine for a year.
The environment on the Mother Planet deteriorated, and my hopes dwindled. But I refused to give up. As long as I could not defeat him, I could not die.
Thus, I spent a lot of time transforming my body, allowing my body to fuse with the oldest grape vine.
In order to live longer, I gradually became a vine. I believed that in this way, I would be able to understand grapes better and make better wine.
My Romanee-Conti will one day surpass Henri Jayer's Cros Parisien!
One day! "
Aubert de Villaine's voice grew louder and louder. He seemed to be losing control of his emotions.
Lan Jue's brows furrowed as he listened to the God of Wine's resentment for the dead God of Wine. He sighed.
"Why are you sighing?" Aubert de Villaine asked coldly.
"Because I believe that if you continue to be this competitive, you will never be able to defeat Henri Jayer." Lan Jue replied.
Aubert de Villaine was enraged. He waved the vines of the vine around him. "Why?
What right do you have to say that? "
Lan Jue continued. "Of course I don't have the right to judge you or Master Henri Jayer. But I do believe that a good winemaker must truly love wine, and not use it as a tool to win.
You are right. You have great talent, and I believe Master Henri Jayer may not be as good as you. But it is your attitude that determines the outcome of the battle.
Your desire to win will prevent you from truly understanding grapes and wine, at least when compared to Henri Jayer. "
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Today is the third update, the first update!
(To be continued, please search, the better the novel, the faster the update!