Whether you drink wine or not, you must be familiar with the line: Bring me a bottle of 82-year-old Lafite.
That's right, this is a common operation of rich people in film and television dramas, they will open Lafite if they don't agree with each other, and it has to be 82 years old. However, it has been 43 years since 1982, how many bottles of Lafite have been produced in 82 years? Haven't you finished it yet?
82 years of Lafite in film and television dramas
Flowing water film and television dramas, the iron-clad 82-year-old Lafite.
Many people first know 82-year-old Lafite because of a widely circulated screenshot of the film in the 1989 movie "God of Gamblers", the God of Gamblers played by Chow Yun-fat looks at the camera, and the subtitle is "Come to a bottle of 82-year-old Lafite".
I want to refute a rumor here, Chow Yun-fat didn't say this sentence in the movie, but later he was matched to the picture by mistake, and out of the "Mandela effect" we always thought that Chow Yun-fat was the "wild spokesperson" of Lafite in 82.
The Mandela effect: refers to the phenomenon that people sometimes have false memories of an event that do not match the facts. The phenomenon was discovered by Fianna Boome, an American paranormal researcher, who said she shared most people's belief that South African President Nelson Mandela died in prison in 1980, but the reality was that Mandela died in 2013. Later, this situation of the collective memory of the masses was wrong, and it became known as the "Mandela effect".
Although the 82-year-old Lafite in "God of Gamblers" is fake, the 82-year-old Lafite has really appeared in other film and television dramas.
In the TV series "The Peerless Shangjiao", through the chat between the male protagonist Mai Tishuang (played by Huang Zihua) and Tang Ji (played by Xu Shaoxiong), it can be known that the 82-year-old Lafite is still a rare thing, and it can only be bought if you have an acquaintance.
In addition to being expensive, the quality of Lafite in '82 is also good.
Hong Kong drama "Criminal Investigation File 4" actor Lo Wai-ki (played by Zhang Zhaohui) was broken three bottles of 82-year-old treasures, one of which is Lafite, and the female supporting actress Tang Xinru (played by Li Shanshan) said that the three bottles are all good wines.
In the movie "Macau Fengyun 2", the 82-year-old Lafite is still a good hand at persuasion. The male protagonist Shi Yijian (played by Chow Yun-fat) instantly lost his anger after hearing that he opened a bottle of 82-year-old Lafite, and his attitude changed from "I can't drink anything" to "I can drink it".
In the movie "Single Men and Women", the 82-year-old Lafite appeared at the table where the male and female protagonists were dating, and the male advocate Shen Ran (played by Louis Koo) The first point was the 82-year-old Lafite, and he also emphasized that he should wake up for more than two hours.
Of course, the 82-year-old Lafite has a more luxurious purpose than just drinking.
In the movie "Exile", when the supporting actor Egg Roll Qiang (played by Lin Jiadong) was negotiating with a big brother in the rivers and lakes, the other party wanted to invite him to drink the peach wine "Dock Mouse", but Egg Roll Qiang disdained it, saying that he used Lafite to gargle his mouth, which was still 82 years old.
It can be said that the 82-year-old Lafite deserves to be an "old actor" in Hong Kong movies and TV series, and frequently appears in the scenes of bigwig talks and daily dating.
Later, more and more film and television dramas used 82 Lafite, and the scenes became more diverse.
In the TV series "Residual Sins Season 2", Fu Guosheng (played by Zhang Jincheng), who was interrogated by the police, proposed "asking for an 82-year-old Lafite". In the scene of tasting wine in "Thirty Only", Wang Manni (played by Jiang Shuying) judged that it was 82-year-old Lafite by the fruity aroma and mint flavor in the wine.
It can be seen that although the plots of the film and television dramas are different, they all express the fact that the 82-year-old Lafite is very expensive and rare.
So what's so special about Lafite this year?
How special is Lafite in '82?
Before talking about Lafite in '82, let's get to know Lafite.
When we say Lafite, we mean one of the types of wine produced by the famous French winery, Château Lafite. Château Lafite was founded in 1354 in the Pauillac appellation on the left bank of Bordeaux. In 1868, Baron James Mayer Rothschild bought the estate and renamed it Château Lafite de Rothschild (Château Lafite).
Nowadays, when people talk about Lafite, they usually add a vintage in front of it, but it should be noted that this vintage does not refer to the time when the wine was made, but the time when the grapes were harvested, for example, Lafite 82 refers to the harvest of the grapes in 1982.
One of the reasons for the explosion of Lafite in '82 was that the grapes of this year were extraordinary.
The quality of the grapes is related to the geographical conditions of the area.
In terms of climate, Bordeaux is located in the southwest of France, adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, and under the influence of the Atlantic Ocean Current, it has formed an oceanic temperate climate with hot and dry summers and mild and rainy winters, which provides very favorable conditions for planting excellent grape varieties. In 1982, the climate was warm and sunny, and the photosynthesis of the chlorophyll in the grapes increased, which created a "natural time" for the growth of the grapes.
Let's look at the soil. The Left Bank of Bordeaux is flat and has a complex and diverse soil type, consisting mainly of gravel layers and weathered sand. This mixture of soils is very permeable and drainable, and the large and small stones absorb the sun's heat during the day and transport it to the vines and grapes at night, which is another important "location" advantage.
In 82, Lafite became famous all over the world, and it was also endorsed by authoritative figures.
The famous wine critic Robert Parker created a red wine rating system with a score of 100, which can determine the fate of a bottle of wine and even an entire winery, and has a huge impact on the wine industry. Robert once gave Lafite a 100 in 1982, and with his professional recognition, Lafite in '82 quickly became famous.
Another thing that cannot be ignored is the promotion of Lafite in 82 by film and television dramas. The combination of 82 years and Lafite has basically not changed much, and drinking 82 years of Lafite symbolizes "special wealth" and "special quality" in many movies, and over time people think that 82 years of Lafite is the best quality, better than other years of Lafite.
But in fact, there are not only 82 years of Lafite in good years, but also Lafite in 1959, 1986 and 1990, which together with 1982 are called "the four major years of Lafite in the 20th century". A bottle of 90-year-old Lafite appeared at the class reunion of the TV series "You Are My Glory", and the person who ordered the wine bluntly said that the vintage was good.
Going back to the question of how many bottles of Lafite were produced in 1982, there is no exact information on how much production was produced.
There is a view that the area of vineyards suitable for picking in 1982 is about 60 hectares, and if 8,500 vines are planted per hectare, and a bottle of Lafite is produced every 2~3 trees, the maximum is no more than 240,000 bottles, and the final 82-year-old Lafite in China will be even less.
The wine itself is not much, and drinking a bottle is less than a bottle. As for why it hasn't been drunk yet, it is likely that there are too many copycat products on the market. After all, the real '82 Lafite is very precious, and even if there is, it will not be easily circulated in the market.
However, it is not important whether the 82-year-old Lafite drunk in film and television dramas is true or not, many times, people drink not only wine, but also express their strength and taste, which is more important.
Resources:
[1]Andrew wood, et al. Seasonal weather impacts wine quality in Bordeaux.iScience,October,20,2023.
[2] Zhao Minmin, Liu Xuewu. Heterogeneity analysis of natural resource endowment in major international wine grape producing areas[J].Agriculture and Technology,2024,44(03):1-7.)
[3] Lu Xin. World Culture,2017,(03):37-39.
[4] Zhang Yi. Research on the causes of the prosperity of Bordeaux wine industry[D].Hangzhou Normal University,2015.
Editor: Chen Wanyun
Source: China News Weekly