FRANCE: Wine lovers can now produce their own Bordeaux Grand Cru from A to Z from the comfort of their own homes
Record ID:
1542764
FRANCE: Wine lovers can now produce their own Bordeaux Grand Cru from A to Z from the comfort of their own homes
- Title: FRANCE: Wine lovers can now produce their own Bordeaux Grand Cru from A to Z from the comfort of their own homes
- Date: 21st April 2010
- Summary: SAINT-EMILION, FRANCE (APRIL 17, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF VINEYARDS EXTERIOR OF CHATEAU TEYSSIER CHATEAU TEYSSIER SIGN CUSTOMERS ENTERING BUILDING VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AND WINE BARRELS VARIOUS OF CUSTOMERS POSING IN FRONT OF METAL TANKS MAN TAKING PHOTO OF BOTTLES STEPHEN BOLGER OF CRUSHPAD TALKING TO PEOPLE (SOUNDBITE) (French) STEPHEN BOLGER OF CRUSHPAD SAYING: "The customer decides the style of wine they want to create, establishes a plan of action for the wine-making process and participates as much or as little in the creation of his own wine. They are guided by Crushpad who have nine plots over the left and right bank: Margaux, Pauillac, Saint-Emilion, Saint-Est����phe etc... The customer selects the vine and the plot they desire, we help them with all the technical aspects and the technique of selection, we have a state of the art cellar with the most up to date equipment so that they can create the wine of their dreams." RED WINE BEING POURED WINE LIST WINE SPECIFICATION VARIOUS OF CUSTOMERS TASTING WINE VARIOUS WINE BOTTLES AND LABELS (SOUNDBITE) (French) STEPHEN BOLGER OF CRUSHPAD SAYING: "In the United States we have four graphic designers who work full time creating labels on the basis of the customers' wishes. The reality is this: when a group of people get together to produce a barrel of wine, they don't argue that much on the style of wine, the choice of the plots of land or the way they want to do the vinification process, but they always argue about what should appear on the bottle itself." VARIOUS OF CUSTOMERS TASTING WINE WINE GLASS IN HAND WINE DESCRIPTION (SOUNDBITE) (English) CUSTOMER RAIN TAMM SAYING: "Of course the wine has a lot of physical characteristics but it has a lot of emotions. And these kind of emotions you can't get into any other wine than what you have made yourself." WOMEN RAISING GLASSES, SAYING CHEERS AND LAUGHING (SOUNDBITE) (English) CUSTOMER IRENE YATES SAYING: "It's interesting because I don't have much experience drinking wine this young but it is nice now so I'm relatively sure that it is going to get a lot better as it ages." CUSTOMERS
- Embargoed: 6th May 2010 09:25
- Keywords:
- Location: France
- Country: France
- Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVA2ADBSFAO2TY6YVJTFSBG3UPPB
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: Wine lovers can now make their own Bordeaux wines, mixing grape varieties and grapes from different vineyards just like the professionals do.
Do-it-yourself winemaking company Crushpad started out in California in 2004 by providing the winery, tools, grapes and knowledge for wine enthusiasts who wanted to make their own wines and has now opened another D.I.Y. winery at Chateau Teyssier in the heart of Saint-Emilion, France.
Budding vintners can participate as much or as little as possible, getting involved in the picking, crushing, tasting and bottling - or they can just make decisions about grapes and labels while monitoring progress over the Internet.
Franco-American businessman Stephen Bolger brought the can-do American concept of Crushpad to Bordeaux, where vintage wines can sell for hundreds of dollars a bottle. Bolger left a successful business career in 2003 after reading an article in Fortune magazine about Crushpad. He joined the group in California, brought the idea to Bordeaux and has selected several plots of vines.
Last weekend, a few dozen budding Bordeaux barons came to Chateau Teyssier for tastings and plot visits.
"The customer decides the style of wine they want to create, establishes a plan of action for the wine-making process and participates as much or as little in the creation of his own wine. They are guided by Crushpad who have nine plots over the left and right bank: Margaux, Pauillac, Saint-Emilion, Saint-Est����phe etc... The customer selects the vine and the plot they desire, we help them with all the technical aspects and the technique of selection, we have a state of the art cellar with the most up to date equipment so that they can create the wine of their dreams," Bolger told Reuters Television.
The client can follow the production via the Internet and is assisted by several professionals such as Jonathan Maltus, a Nigerian-born Englishman who owns Chateau Teyssier. Eric Boissenot is the wine consultant, and also works for houses such as Lafite, Margeaux, Palmer, Pichon, Ducru-Beaucaillou, Leoville Barton or Leoville La Cazes.
To have a barrel of your own wine delivered to a warehouse in San Francisco, you need to invest some $12,000 and will end up with 25 cases. Some people team up to make a barrel.
"In the United States we have four graphic designers who work full time creating labels on the basis of the customers' wishes. The reality is this: when a group of people get together to produce a barrel of wine, they don't argue that much on the style of wine, the choice of the plots of land or the way they want to do the vinification process, but they always argue about what should appear on the bottle itself," said Bolger.
And fine wine isn't all in the chemical composition.
"Of course the wine has a lot of physical characteristics but it has a lot of emotions. And these kind of emotions you can't get into any other wine than what you have made yourself," said client Rain Tamm from Estonia.
And American Irene Yates, who lives in Switzerland, agreed:
"But again, very enjoyable. We will so look forward to drinking this. And the idea of doing it with friends makes it even more fun because we know we'll get together in the future, pull out the wine, reminisce about the weekends and the stories, and so it's a great, great deal," she said.
Unfortunately, Bordeaux airport was closed for most of the weekend due to a volcanic ash cloud that has shut down aviation across much of Europe and some people had trouble getting out while some did not even manage to come in to Saint-Emilion.
"One of my clients is going to Hong Kong from Bordeaux via Toulouse, Casablanca and Dubai...another spent 26 hours getting back to Bratislava by train but he sent a message saying his trip to Bordeaux was worth every minute in the train," Bolger said in an email.
And he will no doubt be spending several hours more enjoying the fruits of his labours in years to come. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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