14,565 New Vines Planted
May 31st 2008, by GQ
Last week we planted a single parcel of nearly 3 hectares, or 7.5 acres, with a zillion new sauvignon blanc vines, just behind the winery (or chai) at Château Bauduc. A specialist team of 14 people did the whole job in a few days, from tracing out the block, knocking in the small supporting posts, digging the holes and planting the baby vines.
We had ripped the old vines after the 2006 harvest, and then worked hard to get the terrain in the right condition for the new plants. The plan was to plant earlier in the spring but it has been so wet it’s been difficult to prepare the ground properly. It turns out that this has worked in our favour, in that several growers have had problems with vines going in too early and having problems with too much rain or late frosts in April.
Bauduc in Restaurant Price Shock - Telegraph
May 25th 2008, by GQ
Yesterday I took a call from Rupert, the general manager for Rick Stein’s group of establishments in Padstow, Cornwall, saying that Rick had been asked to comment by the Telegraph about the high price of wine in restaurants. Apparently, an investigation by the Daily Telegraph had revealed that both Rick Stein and Gordon Ramsay were charging a lot more for a bottle of Chateau Bauduc than they were paying for it. And?
It then dawned on me that I had been set up by a chap on the phone, a few weeks back, who was trying to chisel a good price out of me for a new venture. The person ‘posing as a potential buyer’ in the article - he said he was called David - was going to start up a new establishment, and it was clear that he didn’t have a clue what he was talking about. (Even the calculations in the article don’t add up.) I felt rather sorry for him when I wished him good luck at the end of the call. As stings go, it was hardly Sven and the fake sheikh.
I said to Rupert that, on the contrary, our wine was too cheap in the restaurant. After all, top restaurants need to make a 66% gross margin. The refurbishment of The Seafood Restaurant earlier this year cost a seven figure sum which didn’t start with the number 1. £19 for a bottle there for a wine that’s sold by the vineyard for £8? ‘No wonder it’s so popular in the restaurant’, I said. Victoria Moore, the Guardian’s wine correspondent, cited Château Bauduc Bordeaux blanc as being good value for £18.50 at The Seafood more than three years ago. More to the point, try booking a table.