Château Lagrange, a St Julien third growth, has the largest acreage of any Bordeaux classed growth. For much of the 20th century, this was its sole claim to distinction. Under family management, it consistently failed to justify its ranking. Then the Japanese arrived.
In 1983, Suntory bought Lagrange for £4 million. There were resentments. In 1987, on the floor of the stock exchange just after the Big Bang had transformed the City, a Japanese broker asked an English counterpart if he could direct him to Wedd Durlacher. This was after lunch and the Englishman was old-fashioned. ‘You lot found your way to Pearl Harbor without any help from me. You can find your own fucking way to Wedd Durlacher.’
Although Bordelaise incivility was more sophisticated, it was as pointed. But the Japanese did everything right. They recruited first-rate French managers and vignerons.
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