Put your money where your mouth is

AROUND this time of year the wine negotiants and producers of high-end Bordeaux wines are getting ready for the long process of deciding on prices for the 2010 vintage.

Spring comes to a climax there each year as prices sort-of... emerge... through an arcane combination of preview tastings, the reputation and rank of the respective wineries and calm, unblinking, brass-necked negotiation.

In other words, it’s all quite comparable to an Irish livestock market.