"You can still make wine?" Yuri asked, surprised.
"You want to fake wine?" Saul replied, demonstrating his legal acumen by pinpointing the core issue.
"How can this be called fake wine?" Sean shot a glance at Saul. "Isn't it just a different kind of wine?"
"Otherwise?" Saul shrugged.
"How can the work of a brewer be labeled as fake?" Sean added.
"This is called cottage wine!" Saul insisted.
Seeing Saul was still puzzled, Sean continued, "Yuri, how much does a bottle of this French brandy cost?"
"Fifty-five dollars," Yuri responded. "The market price for regular imports is around 120, while bars sell it for over 400. Of course, smuggled products go for around 200 in our bars. But most of those are sold as base wine."
"If I blend it myself, a bottle would cost about 50 cents. In bulk, it could drop to 30 cents," Sean said, a mysterious smile creeping across his face.
"Oh my god, that's impossible!" Saul exclaimed, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"Are you joking?" Yuri echoed, clutching his head in shock.
Sean snapped his fingers confidently. "It's that cheap. Of course, I'm only talking about the wine itself—bottle, packaging, transportation, and labor costs are separate."
"How much could those add up to? Two dollars?" Saul exaggerated, waving his hands dismissively.
"What about the drug trade's profit margins? Can those products be sold publicly?" Yuri asked skeptically.
"Well, the scale of the drug trade might be larger than the alcohol market, but its profit margins are much lower," Sean replied, shaking his head with disdain. "That kind of low-end product only attracts gangsters and the uneducated."
"Low-end? Ignorance!" Yuri protested. "More than 20 times the profit? That sounds impossible!"
They all stared at Sean, their minds racing. "I doubt wineries have such high profits," Saul said, frowning. "Many French wineries barely break even, with some even losing money."
"Nonsense! They've been producing for centuries, while I can blend it quickly," Sean retorted. "Do you have any idea how much time and labor goes into making a good bottle of brandy?"
Brandy is not just any spirit. Like white wine, it is distilled, but the raw materials are grapes or fruits, which must age in wooden barrels for many years—ideally between 25 and 40 years.
The barrels vary in type; 'black oak' barrels are used for Armagnac, while 'Leadson' oak barrels are typical for cognac. Only grape distillate that has been fermented, distilled, and aged in oak barrels within the Cognac region can legally be labeled as cognac.
Cognac comes in various grades: VS (under 4.5 years), VSOP (4.5 to 6.5 years), and XO (over 6.5 years). The longer the aging, the better the quality and price.
All brandy distilleries use letter grades to indicate quality: E (Extraordinary), F (Good), V (Very Good), O (Old), S (Superior), P (Pale and Old), and X (Exceptional).
Thus, a genuine Jinhua V.S.O.P. Camus, aged for over 4.5 years, is reasonably priced, especially considering inflation.
"The cost of our cottage wine depends on the price of edible alcohol," Sean explained. "And when you factor in the cost of coloring and flavoring, it barely adds anything."
Yuri and Saul stood in shock, grappling with Sean's calculations. "One ton of edible alcohol can yield around 4,000 bottles of this 700ml wine. If sold at a smuggled price of 40 yuan, that totals about $160,000!"
"Cost varies based on alcohol price, which is around $700 a ton right now," Sean shrugged. "And industrial alcohol can be used, which is even cheaper."
"No way! This is unbelievable! You still want to use industrial alcohol?" Yuri exclaimed, laughing uncontrollably as he grabbed Sean's shoulders. "You capitalist vampire!"
Saul, more composed, trembled slightly as he spoke. "Can you really achieve this? It's absurd! Those producers have worked hard for centuries to create quality products, yet you suggest such low-cost alternatives?"
"First, all wines can be blended," Sean asserted confidently. "With the right skills, no one could tell the difference. Sure, wine connoisseurs might notice, but I'm not targeting them."
"Second, you just don't understand the wine industry," Sean continued. "Most consumers can't tell the difference, and the industry promotes culture and exclusivity to create barriers for new entrants."
In fact, the largest consumer group of wine consists of ordinary people who often lack the expertise to discern quality. They strive to shape culture, taste, and style, establishing a competitive barrier that makes it harder for newcomers to enter the industry.
Consider cognac: if the region changes, the same craftsmanship cannot be labeled as French cognac and won't be recognized as the finest brandy.
At the bar, some patrons would drink anything, even if it were horse urine. Sean scoffed, "It's like the law; whether something is a crime or not, the judge decides the punishment based on established rules. Why would you even need a lawyer?"
Saul quickly countered, "There should always be a lawyer. The judge is merely a neutral party, obligated to consider both the defense and the prosecution fairly."
"Okay, I'm not here to debate that," Sean interrupted, waving his hand dismissively. "I'm here to share the truth."
"Why are you rambling?" Yuri chimed in, clearly impatient. "Come on, Sean, show us what you've got so we can get to the point."
"Alright!" Sean responded enthusiastically. "I've prepared the alcohol content, and now I'm going to adjust the color."
This requires various pigments, including red, yellow, blue, and green. Common options are pepper red, beet red, monascus red, sodium copper chlorophyll, turmeric, gardenia yellow, phycocyanin, cocoa pigment, and caramel color.
These pigments can be classified into food coloring and industrial coloring. I prefer to use food-grade pigments to ensure quality.
Food-grade pigments are further divided into natural and synthetic types. I opt for synthetic pigments.
"Cheap!" Saul exclaimed, giving a thumbs up. "If you don't get rich from this, it's just not fair!"
"Your streetlights probably have some of your pigments in them!" Yuri added with a laugh.
"Natural pigments are acceptable too," Yuri said, a bit sheepishly. "But the cost of wine is probably less than a cent."
"Stupid!" Sean shot back, glaring at Yuri. "Whoever said natural pigments are inherently better than synthetic ones?"
While it's true that some synthetic pigments, like amaranth, can be harmful with long-term consumption, the main issue is that natural pigments are more complex and harder to adjust than synthetic ones. Do you understand?
"It's so easy for you to mix a color!" Yuri muttered, feeling a bit cornered. Saul quietly raised his eyebrows, still thinking that Sean's choices were too extravagant.