“I have 30 acres…”
Joseph smiled as he watched these people respond to him, then suddenly raised his voice, “Oh, right, I’ve been so preoccupied with potatoes that I completely forgot about another matter.”
He gestured to Eman, who immediately had documents distributed to the nobles present.
Joseph continued, “This is the ‘French Brewing Technology Association’ I’m planning, to facilitate the exchange of brewing techniques. Listed here are some of the new technologies the association possesses.”
The estate owners below were instantly filled with question marks—why had the topic suddenly shifted to winemaking, and what was this technology association?
However, as they began to peruse the document in hand, their eyes grew wider and wider.
Someone couldn’t help but exclaim aloud, “New technology that reduces the failure rate of brewing to a negligible extent? How is that possible?”
Another person said, “And this technology, it can make the wine taste less acidic, improving the quality manifold!”
“Good Lord, and it also extends the preservation time of wine by more than tenfold!”
The plantation owners immediately began to discuss among themselves, their voices growing louder and louder.
Even Venio was extremely shocked as he also owned a winemaking industry and was quite familiar with the matter.
Firstly, winemaking was something that always had some failure rate. To keep the failure rate below 10% was the mark of the top winemaking masters. Typically, if 30% of wine production failed, that was considered acceptable.
What was even more unbelievable was the technology claimed to eliminate the acidic taste of wine.
You must understand that the presence of an acidic taste is an important criterion of wine quality.
Ordinary wines usually have a hint of acidity, affecting the taste. Only the more high-end wines can nearly eliminate the acidic taste.
Which means, this technology could make all the wines produced of high-end quality!
And the price difference between ordinary and high-quality wines can be more than tenfold!
Someone immediately stood up excitedly, holding the document in hand and asked Joseph, “Your Highness the Crown Prince, are these technologies real?”
Joseph nodded with a smile, “Of course they’re real. They have already been applied for patents at the Paris Patent Office and should be registered soon.”
An older plantation owner expressed his skepticism, “Your Highness, forgive my frankness. I have been in winemaking for decades and have never heard of such technology. Couldn’t this be…”
Joseph looked at the eager nobles and immediately stood up, “Who has a wine cellar near here? I can give a demonstration on the spot.”
…
In the northern suburbs of Bordeaux, Yalsen Cellar.
Although it was already winter, the cellar still had grapes specially smoked and dried for long-term storage, which could be used for winemaking.
It wasn’t long before craftsmen arranged several barrels of completed grape pulp and brewing water in front of Joseph.
He also asked for a heating stove and a large bucket among other things, then signaled the watching plantation owners to leave first.
As soon as Kesode had “escorted” everyone out, Joseph immediately had Eman help fill a large pot with water and place it on the stove to boil.
When the water came to a boil, he mixed the hot water with cold water in a large wooden barrel and took out the thermometer he had brought to measure the temperature until it was exactly 65 degrees Celsius.
He then placed the small barrel containing the grape pulp into the large wooden barrel, started timing, and continued to measure the temperature. Whenever the temperature dropped, he immediately added hot water to keep the grape pulp above 60 degrees Celsius.