Read Bruno 02 - The Dark Vineyard for Free Online Page B

land is pretty cheap. There’s no
appellation contrôlée
in this valley to drive up the price. Funny you should mention this, because that guy who dropped the bottle, Dupuy, was asking me about wine and land prices around here just after you left. I let him try a glass of that stuff the Domaine produces; it’s a bit overpriced but it’s not bad.”
    “You mean Domaine de la Vézère? But that’s just a house wine that Julien makes for his hotel and restaurant. It’s not exactly a viable operation.”
    “You’d be surprised, Bruno. Julien bought some of thatneighboring land across the commune boundary. He must have eight or nine hectares by now, and that’s enough to make forty thousand bottles a year when the vines mature. The land is all on a south-facing slope on a chalk hill with good drainage, so there’s no reason it won’t produce decent wine. And his hotel and restaurant are a captive market.”
    Bruno had never had much to do with business, but he suddenly got the point. A small grower in an ordinary part of Bordeaux would be lucky to get even one euro a bottle when he sold to a
négociant
, but at the restaurant Julien could sell every one of his bottles for eight or nine euros.
    “When I realized what he was up to, I bought a few hectares alongside the Domaine, reckoning I’d get a good price from Julien the next time he expands,” Hubert went on.
    “You mean Philibert’s old farm, off the Limeuil road? I thought you bought that as a place to house your staff.”
    “Sure, but it was mainly an investment in the land, and I’ll be planting my own vines there in November. Don’t forget that I have some of the same advantage as Julien at his hotel. I can bottle it as
vin du pays
and sell it in the
cave
for three euros.”
    “What about Dupuy? What did he want to know?”
    “Well, he calmed down a bit with the champagne, and then I presented his girlfriend with a bottle. Not the Krug, but I thought, hell, he’d paid a lot of money. He obviously knew a lot about wine and is obviously pretty rich so I thought I might try to turn him into a regular customer. Why do you ask?”
    “Dupuy’s office in Paris made the hotel reservation for Bondino, and Dupuy is booked into his hotel tonight.”
    “Don’t tell me—the Centenaire. Nothing but the best for Bondino.”
    “That’s right. But Dupuy got a single room, so where does that leave the girlfriend?”
    “He said he had to put the girl onto the Paris train atPérigueux. She wasn’t a great talker but she certainly was decorative. It looks like that little romantic interlude is over.”
    “And now it’s time for business,” said Bruno. “Let’s stay in touch on this because the mayor is going to need your knowledge of the wine trade. They probably think we’re a bunch of country bumpkins down here, and when it comes to me they’re not far off.”
    “Sure; I’ll help however I can. But let’s keep me out of it, at least in public. We need to know what they’re really up to.”
    “Just one more thing. What’s the price of land around the Domaine? Land that you might use to grow wine, I mean.”
    “Well, you know what I paid for Philibert’s place: 120,000 euros, for just over three hectares and the old farmhouse.”
    “I know what you paid officially for tax purposes,” Bruno said. “I don’t know what you paid under the table when the
notaire
left the room.”
    Hubert chuckled. “The usual ratio. Only the greedy go for more than a third off the real price.”
    “So you paid about a hundred and eighty, and the farmhouse alone is probably worth that. What are we saying, four or five thousand a hectare for the land?”
    “Somewhere around there. Maybe five or six, depending on what the land is used for. Straight farmland, maybe as little as two or three. With zoning permission for building, twenty or more.”
    “What would it be worth if it were proper wine land, with the
appellation contrôlée?”
    “It depends. In Champagne