French term for merchant, trader or trading house. Although it applies to products of all kinds, it is primarily used for wine merchants. They can buy finished wines or take over grapes or grape must, vinify them and then market the resulting products themselves. In Bordeaux in particular, négociants have a very long history dating back to the 12th century (see Bordeaux wine trade). Today, there are around 400 négociants in the Bordeaux region, which market 70% of Bordeaux wines either directly to the end consumer or to resellers. Many of these companies have been family-owned for many generations or are subsidiaries of large international wine multinationals or drinks companies.
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For me, Lexicon from wein.plus is the most comprehensive and best source of information about wine currently available.
Egon Mark
Diplom-Sommelier, Weinakademiker und Weinberater, Volders (Österreich)