In the tasting room of a Bordeaux winery, a photo on the wall shows a pastoral tableau: three generations of the Dubois family, sipping wine on the patio of their Les Bertrands château, with their Australian shepherd, Namek, perched at their feet. Out the window, chestnut trees sway in the breeze, with sunlit vines stretching for acres beyond.
It’s this mesmerizing serenity that draws millions of tourists to southwest France every year to revel in the craftsmanship and lifestyle that have made Bordeaux an icon of the $515 billion global wine industry. Last year, the region produced 484 million bottles, about 14% of France’s output; according to the Bordeaux Wine Council, every 15 seconds, somewhere in the world, someone buys a bottle of Bordeaux.
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