Cos d'Estournel buys Montelena

If recent Cos pricing is a clue, I guess I've bought my last Montelena!

http://www.decanter.com/news/263977.html

The Empire Strikes Back.

I regretfully dropped out of the Montelena Friends' Club when they were going to automatically ship and bill me for two Cabernet Sauvignon Reserves at over $100 each. I do have on hand some of their non-reserve C.S. and probably some Sauvignon Blanc. Will have to check on the Sauvignon Blanc but won't get to it before my trip to Provence so may post a late note on Wine Focus thread some time in August.

America for sale. I hate jingoism but I find a little bit of sadness in the sale of Budweiser, Montelena, Genentech, in the last few days. Hey, the value of the dollar has made us cheap. "So it goes"

[David M. Bueker]

It is sad, but surely not "huge" news.

It is sad, but surely not "huge" news.

Certainly not the biggest story in the last 30 years

It is sad, but surely not "huge" news.

Certainly not the biggest story in the last 30 years

Ed, America is and has been for a decade or more sold off acre by acre, and building by building. someday the language we are directed to speak/learn might well be Arabic. Would THAT be the biggest story in the last 30 years?

[David M. Bueker]

Bob,

What does "learning Arabic" have to do with a French person/company buying Montelena? C'mon...

Guess what, American corporations own overseas entities. I work for a corporation that has many plants in other countries & not even close to all of them were bought for access to cheap labor.

[James Roscoe]

I love these kinds of threads. This country was built with foreign capital, particularly British capital. Look what the British have to show for it? I would guess the latest round of foreign investment will go the same way in another thirty years, if history is any guide. Heck, I was at a seminar today on the Washington and the Constitution at Mt. Vernon where one of the speaker's main points was that the constitution's primary economic function was to bring in foreign capital.

It is sad, but surely not "huge" news.

Certainly not the biggest story in the last 30 years

Ed, America is and has been for a decade or more sold off acre by acre, and building by building. someday the language we are directed to speak/learn might well be Arabic. Would THAT be the biggest story in the last 30 years?

Bob,
Yesterday Parker called it the "biggest wine story in 30 years".

Bob, Yesterday Parker called it the "biggest wine story in 30 years".

Ed, I wasn't aware of the Parker quote, and you are certainly right about it not being the biggest story (wine or otherwise) in 30 years. I would agree though that it is a very big story, and one that I deplore. It does seem to me that we are selling off America brick by brick, and I do not think it to be for the overall good. My opinion, only.

Bob,

What does "learning Arabic" have to do with a French person/company buying Montelena? C'mon...

Guess what, American corporations own overseas entities. I work for a corporation that has many plants in other countries & not even close to all of them were bought for access to cheap labor.

David, my opinions are just that, and nothing else. The short answer to your (I hope) rhetorical question though, is that it has absolutely nothing to do with a single particular case. However, given the amount of dollars flying out of the USA into middle east countries, and the outright purchase of US land and businesses by those countries, gives me pause to think. Right here in Kentucky there are huge acreages of productive (horse) farms that are owned by Saudi and other mid east investment companies, (which basically means the ruling families) and these farms are being purchased by dollars spent on oil. It is my personal belief that the USA should never allow the sale of land to a foreign national. Lease the land, yes, but sale no. Perhaps my "Learning Arabic" was a bit over the top, but it made a point....didn't it?

[David M. Bueker]

Bob - sorry if I sounded too strident.

While I understand your point I completely disagree with you. Restrictions on buying land are a little too xenophobic for my tastes. Of course I want to buy a vacation home in Canada, so I would not want that to be restricted.

Remember when everyone's fear was that the USA was being bought piece by piece by the Japanese?

The pendulum will swing the other way, maybe sooner than many think.

If someone wants to offer BUD shareholders a huge premium for their stock, why shouldn't they take it?

Wow, the history of the US would be very very different if we had never allowed foreign nationals to buy land. America was the largest debtor nation in the world between the Civil War and WW2, as it grew. That included large amounts of land.
The idea is a remarkable display of both xenophobia and American exceptionalism. Unless of course you'd also be happy with other countries doing the same. American companies and individuals own huge amounts of land in other countries. In wine, one should not forget that the Dillons own Haut Brion, and the Kopf family Louis Jadot.

To be fair to Parker, he said "one of" the biggest stories in 30 years. Still wrong, just not as wrong.
I don't think it shook the world of fine wine.

David,
In reference to buying a vacation home in Canada--my great aunt and great uncle DID lease land on a lake near Kenora, Ontario where they had a summer cabin. The land belonged to Queen Elizabeth and they had a 99-year lease. Originally all their furniture for the cabin had to be transported by boat, but I think later a road was built behind their property. They had their own generator for electricity and carried a shotgun when they took out garbage in case of any angry moose or bears in the vicinity and they visited neighbors by boat.

The weak US$ is the cause American companies are cheap; InBev buys Bud, Roche buys Genentech, Teva buys Barr. The only companies that are not generating interest are the financials (even at depressed prices, there is still uncertainty about the value of their holdings).

Wow, the history of the US would be very very different if we had never allowed foreign nationals to buy land. America was the largest debtor nation in the world between the Civil War and WW2, as it grew. That included large amounts of land.
The idea is a remarkable display of both xenophobia and American exceptionalism. Unless of course you'd also be happy with other countries doing the same. American companies and individuals own huge amounts of land in other countries. In wine, one should not forget that the Dillons own Haut Brion, and the Kopf family Louis Jadot.

To be fair to Parker, he said "one of" the biggest stories in 30 years. Still wrong, just not as wrong.
I don't think it shook the world of fine wine.

Thanks for the correction, I was just having a little fun. Of course I respect Parker and would not want to be unfair.

Bob - sorry if I sounded too strident.
While I understand your point I completely disagree with you. Restrictions on buying land are a little too xenophobic for my tastes. Of course I want to buy a vacation home in Canada, so I would not want that to be restricted.

[
David, no worry about sounding strident, as I can often come off that way myself.

As to me being xenophobic, I vociferously disagree. I may believe in protectionism to a degree much more than you, but I have no fear of foreigners or strangers. I simply believe that the US should disallow the ownership of US land by foreign nationals. I am ok with the land usage through lease by these same foreign nationals. And, I would have no trouble with other countries practicing the same in reverse.

Wow, the history of the US would be very very different if we had never allowed foreign nationals to buy land. America was the largest debtor nation in the world between the Civil War and WW2, as it grew. That included large amounts of land.
The idea is a remarkable display of both xenophobia and American exceptionalism. Unless of course you'd also be happy with other countries doing the same. American companies and individuals own huge amounts of land in other countries. In wine, one should not forget that the Dillons own Haut Brion, and the Kopf family Louis Jadot.

To be fair to Parker, he said "one of" the biggest stories in 30 years. Still wrong, just not as wrong.
I don't think it shook the world of fine wine.

Hi Dale, please see my reply to David B.

I disagree that I am displaying American exceptionalisim at all. I do not believe that "the United States differs qualitatively from other developed nations, because of its national credo, historical evolution, or distinctive political and religious institution" I very simply believe that American soil should be owned by Americans. Perhaps my understanding of the English language is not as good as yours, and perhaps you have assigned to me a concept or belief that I do not hold. And, thanks for being fair to Parker, that in itself is a rare thing these days.

I'm not going to involve myself in Bob and David's arguement on foreigners owning property in the U.S. because I think I would fall somewhere in the middle. There are certain restrictions I would place on certain type of properties but that's a whole new subject. Not every thing is for sale.
One of the very first "premium" wineries I became interested in was Montelena during the late 70's. I met the elder Barrett and was totally impressed with his desire to make world class wine. I have cellared and drank their wines since that time. It was a place we have visited and picniced over the years and a very personal feeling of sadness enveloped me over the sale.
My brotherinlaw who I love dearly has always teased me about my love of "fine" wine and has always exclaimed at the top of his lungs, "I'm proud to drink good old American Bud". I will tease him now.

[David M. Bueker]

My brotherinlaw who I love dearly has always teased me about my love of "fine" wine and has always exclaimed at the top of his lungs, "I'm proud to drink good old American Bud". I will tease him now.

So do you think the Coors folks are licking their chops? I can see the adds now.

My brotherinlaw who I love dearly has always teased me about my love of "fine" wine and has always exclaimed at the top of his lungs, "I'm proud to drink good old American Bud". I will tease him now.

So do you think the Coors folks are licking their chops? I can see the adds now.

My brother- inlaw who lived in CO and graduated from CO State would rather support the devil himself than the Coors family and their to the right of Attila the Hun politics.

I regretfully dropped out of the Montelena Friends' Club when they were going to automatically ship and bill me for two Cabernet Sauvignon Reserves at over $100 each. I do have on hand some of their non-reserve C.S. and probably some Sauvignon Blanc. Will have to check on the Sauvignon Blanc but won't get to it before my trip to Provence so may post a late note on Wine Focus thread some time in August.

By "reserve" I assume you mean their Cabernet Sauvignon Estate (their flagship bottling).

I'm in their Cellarmaster subscription program, and they charged $67.50/750ml bottle for the latest futrures offering of Estate Cab (2006 vintage, delivery 2010). I grant you, they do currently have on offer the 2004 Montelena Estate Cab for $125/750ml bottle. I paid about half that per bottle for my case on futures.

Regarding the sale of the estate, it's sad to see a great story such as the Barrett's ownership of Montelena come to an end, but I can only assume that Jim and Bo want a well-deserved retirement.

I'm a tad concerned about the next vintage of Montelena being vinified by committee. I hope the folks at Cos have the good sense to leave well enough alone, and not to make changes in the winemaking. I adore Cos d'Estournel, but it's Bordeaux, not Napa. I've bought and cellared every vintage of Montelena starting with 1980, and as their souvenir T-shirt proudly complains, there have been no duds. Even in the disastrous year of 1983, Montelena produced a good wine (it was poor by Montelena standards, in that it was merely good, not great).

At least the Cos ownership knows how to produce great wine. I am hopeful it won't be a disaster like the sale of Inglenook to Heublein. We shall see. The Cos guys have big shoes to fill.

-Paul W.