Winemasters of Bordeaux

In the heart of Bordeaux, in the South-West of France, the region was a network of wine merchants, originally from Britain, Germany and Ireland, whose long-established businesses dominated the selling of the produce of the great Chateaux. These merchants were known as the Chartronnais, after the district in the city where they had their offices and "The Winemakers" is their story, and that of their frequently stormy relations with the growers who actually grow the grapes and make the wines. The story builds up through the arrival of new characters such as Baron Phillipe de Rothschild and of major international conglomerates with dramatic suddenness in the great boom and bust wine prices which accompanied the oil crises of 1973-74. The collapse resulted in "Winegate" - the trial and conviction of members of the Chartronnais families. In this edition Nicholas Faith describes the developments since then, including the increased power of the Chateaux owners and the arrival of dozens of new faces and forces in what remains the world's biggest wine market.