Cheers Leader

Doomsayers predict many French wines are destined to fade away as market pressure from New World competitors increases. Bordeaux, as one of the world's most imitated bouquets, has suffered mightily. But you'll be hard-pressed to see much gloom at this summer's fifth Bordeaux Wine Festival. In fact, this year, the world's largest wine region has ample grounds to celebrate: American wine pope Robert Parker is one of the many critics who believe the 2005 Bordeaux vintage is the finest in a century, heralding Bordeaux's comeback.

From June 29 to July 2, some 300,000 oenophiles will make the pilgrimage to this Bacchanalian paradise, [an error occurred while processing this directive]which has been producing wine since 300 B.C. From the bustling expanse of the 18th century Place des Quinconces, Europe's biggest public square, to the café-lined quays of the Garonne River, some 12 hectares of the city of Bordeaux will be devoted to gastronomic pleasures and wine tasting.

The region's 57 appellations will be on hand, including Bordeaux's prestigious reds and sweet Sauternes, but also dry whites, rosés and sparkling wines. Châteaus up and down the Garonne will be open for vineyard tours. Classical, popular and world-music concerts every evening will further intoxicate the senses. An exhibition, "Passion for Art, Passion for Wine," will draw from private collections around Bordeaux and include works by Pablo Picasso, Niki de Saint-Phalle and Bernard Pagès. Visitors thus get a chance to both taste and see how wine producers and art collectors like Château Mouton Rothschild's Philippe de Rothschild spend their money.

This year's guest of honor is Bordeaux's Japanese sister city, Fukuoka, and with good reason. While dwindling domestic consumption and increasing foreign competition have provoked the French wine industry's worst sales crisis in decades, wine consumption in Japan has surged almost 200% in 10 years. The Bordeaux Interprofessional Wine Council (civb) has recently upped its annual promotional budget to $27 million to reach new markets like Fukuoka, and the effort is paying off. civb president Christian Delpeuch recently returned from a three-continent promotional tour. "Sales since the beginning of 2005 have never been so good," he says, noting up to 47% export increases to Britain, the U.S. and China from December 2005 through February 2006. "Those smart enough to have concentrated their efforts on quality and promotion are rapidly taking back the market."

French wine critic Jacques Dupont doubts the message is reaching everyone though — especially the lower-end, Bordeaux-producing majority. "For too long they have neglected marketing," he says. "I believe we've hit rock bottom, but now they must rise from this crisis with new ways of functioning." If nothing else, many viticulturalists will learn how to toast in Japanese this year — kampaï! bordeaux-fete-le-vin.com