A miraculous wine is only achieved when temperature, sun, wind and rain are delivered in exact proportions," says a gravel-voiced Russell Crowe as he narrates Red Obsession, the latest wine film doing the rounds.
The documentary by Australian director Warwick Ross explores the Chinese obsession with the finest wines of Bordeaux, and two vintages in particular. Ross told me how many view it as a cautionary tale about China's power, while he sees it as an uneasy romance between "very strange partners".
The miracle to which Crowe refers happened in 2009, the greatest Bordeaux vintage in history according to the all-powerful American wine critic Robert Parker. The top chateaux pushed prices up so high "they were lucky to get away with it", says Ross. "They did so because the Chinese stepped in and were such strong buyers of that vintage."
There were stories of cheque-book waving Chinese besieging Hong Kong's wine merchants, and of rocketing prices such as Chateau Lafite's second wine, which went from £250 a case to £3500 in just a few years. Back in France, as one commentator noted, the spirit of Bernie Madoff entered Bordeaux.
Then, miracle upon miracle, it happened again with 2010 declared another "vintage of the century". Blinded by greed, the chateau owners pushed up prices again, only this time China was less naive. "There has been a falling out of love, and the Chinese feel they have been taken for a ride," Ross told me.
When not making films, he makes wine near a place called Blairgowrie, south of Melbourne. He says the Australian wine industry used to see China as its great saviour, but not any more, with far fewer wines being sold in the last couple of years.
Part of the problem - as Scotch whisky distillers know - is the Chinese government crackdown on conspicuous consumption. A £2000 bottle of Lafite or a crystal decanter of Macallan as a business gift is now politically incorrect. The right choice these days is a caddy of vintage tea.
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