Many recent articles and studies, such as the testimony of the Parisian wine merchant Arthus de Germay (to be read in this issue), converge on the same finding: the transmission of the love of wine among young people no longer takes place within the family. It is now built “horizontally”, among peers, through shared experience and community validation. While the younger generation does not reject the product, it bristles at what makes it opaque: an over-codified language and a complexity perceived as a mechanism of exclusion. In this new cultural context, the question is no longer to exhort fidelity to traditions but to know how to arouse desire. With its historical depth, its diversity of appellations and its global brand power, Bordeaux has rare assets. But this richness, if it is not turned into a narrative, may seem inaccessible to the millennial generation. It must be translated into contemporary language, stripped of all snobbery — not to be oversimplified, but to become again an object of pleasure and ownership. The challenge is all the more urgent as the 2025 campaign opens in a climate of uncertainty. Despite the exceptional quality of a vintage already described as “great”, the market is suffering from falling consumption, commercial tensions and high stock levels. Price adjustment will not be one parameter among others: it will be the decisive factor in consolidating the accessibility of our great wines. In this same issue, our look back at past crises reminds us forcefully: Bordeaux has already been through periods of deep turbulence, price collapses and radical questioning. And it is precisely in these moments that its capacity to adapt has made the difference — and that it has always ended up reinventing itself. In this spring of 2026, the question is no longer how to bring young people to wine. It is simpler and more demanding: can Bordeaux learn to speak their language?
In this issue, we explore these challenges from every angle: from the 2025 Primeurs week, a veritable leap into the unknown, to the turbulent life of Bordeaux châteaux from 1914 to the 1937 vintage, by way of the interview with Arthus de Germay, a young wine merchant defending Bordeaux in the heart of “bobo” Paris. You will also find an Échos article devoted to the forthcoming BtoBio tasting, as well as the latest news from our subscribers.
