WineRegionsOld WorldFranceBordeaux
While wine making in St.-Emilion began as early as the Roman occupation, it was another thousand years before scattered plots of vines spread along the Medoc. Across the large, brown expanse of water called the Gironde, the Romans viewed Bourg and considered its hilly area far more suitable for growing vines. At that time the marshland of the Medoc was difficult to cross and impossible to cultivate. Now the Medoc is the envy of winemakers the world over and Bourg merely a source of inexpensive, if good-value, basic Bordeaux. Prior to the concept of chateau wine estates, the land was worked on a crop-sharing basis. From the late seventeenth century this feudal system slowly changed. As the Bordelais brokers developed the habit of recording and classifying wines according to their cru or growth ( which is to say their geographical origin ) and the prices they fetched, thus the fame of individual properties developed. The nineteenth century saw the rise of the merchant or negociant in Bordeaux Many of these were of English origin, and some were established by Scottish, Irish, Dutch and German businessmen. The best chateau wines were not consumed by the French themselves, they were the preserve of the British, German and other north European populations. Thus foreign merchants had an obvious advantage over their French counterparts. In the spring these negociant took delivery of young wines in cask from the various chateau and matured them in their cellars prior to shipping. They were thus responsible for their upbringing, or elevage, and became known as negociants eleveurs. Bordeaux's 400 negociants or negociants eleveurs are the inevitable middlemen found in every aspect of trading. In many instances a foreign buyer finds it easier to deal through a negociant and sometimes he has no alternative. A number of chateau are owned by or are exclusive to, certain negociants. In today's market, the elevage role of a negociants is primarily restricted to branded wines. A courtier is a local expert with an intimate knowledge of the wines of his area and the needs of his customers. He does not possess stocks, hut he has many roles, some straightforward, others not. He charges a fee for bringing buyers and sellers together; in fact he charges troth parties-the buyer because he vouches that the wines delivered will be identical to the samples tasted, and the seller because he underwrites payment of the invoice.