Wine Business | Isabelle Saporta

Is it useful to have a parking lot to become a classified great growth? On what criteria exactly is the famous 1855 Bordeaux classification based? Is the National Institute of Controlled Designations of Origin - INAO - a police officer or a rural guard? Why have great fortunes bought so many prestigious properties? Are we being kept in the dark about the effects of pesticides used massively in the best vineyards? Why do many of these powerful figures engage in wars worthy of Clochemerle? For the first time, Isabelle Saporta's unprecedented investigation, author of "Le Livre noir de l'agriculture" (The Black Book of Agriculture), reveals the hidden face of our wines and the ferocity of a refined little world where all blows are allowed. Behind the flamboyant labels lie all the ingredients of a ruthless hexagonal Dallas, animated by a handful of cunning winemakers, with their rivalries, visceral hatreds, intrigues, and dirty tricks. An explosive document on one of the glories of our heritage protected by a law of silence that has withstood all scandals.