Noble Rot | William Echickson

For all wine lovers, Bordeaux is the center of the world, where the winemaking tradition is perpetuated immutably. However, over the past two decades, the strongholds of the high nobility of wine (Yquem, Lafite, Latour, Margaux, Saint-Emilion, Saint-Julien, and others in Pomerol) have been shaken by the emergence of new winemakers who, by modernizing fermentation and production techniques, have begun to revolutionize the world of wine. From one bank to the other of the Gironde, a ruthless battle unfolds between these newcomers, called "garagistes" (whose wines, even produced in garages, can be just as exceptional - and expensive! - as those of their competitors), and the noble owners of the châteaux that have made Bordeaux wines internationally renowned. Here, one enters the inner workings of a world of prestige and tradition, where the most sought-after nectars are crafted. And while the struggle between traditional producers and iconoclastic innovators continues, it is the industry, culture, and society of an entire region that are shaking, threatened by the arrival on the market of new wines and quality production techniques used in the wine valleys of California, Spain, Australia... Therefore, for the author, "noble rot" is no longer just the one that fills the white Sauternes grapes with precious sugar - it is also now a symbol of revolution...