!1 !2 !3 Drops & Dribbles: Wine Trade Through Civilization Part Four N’Palm d’Or Impérial oƒ the LIBERAL EMPEROR Bordeaux Virada_California ! www.virada.com !
[email protected] La Mer Merlot du Bordeaux The Central African Empire’s Eternal Flambé of Ephemeral Fame & Uncle Sam Walking in the Footsteps of France The old showman’s smoke and mirrors still linger on today April 20, 2020 !4 Vino Business The Cloudy World of French Wine By Isabelle Saporta [Grove Press; New York] 2015 Pg. 87-93 “A Very Nice Carnival” In-mid April, the excitement in Bordeaux is at its peak. It’s the time when everyone is here. Welcome to wine’s fashion week, where hot-button issues such as classifications, pesticides, and other gray areas are all off the table. As in the fashion world, it’s clear that the master already knows what’s what. Plus, he already came to taste one month earlier. The merchants and all the big importers have already had their premiere. In other words, most of the deals are done, until the crowning glory, Parker’s scores, which come out, as always, at the end of the month. But even if the en primeur sales are a gigantic farce, it’s unthinkable for any self- respecting merchant or wine journalist not be there. It’s the place to be to maintain your network, to go to fancy dinners and lavish parties, and show the world that you’re part of the crème de la crème. So the wine world rushed to Bordeaux to taste the samples that have been tailor- made for the visitors.