The wine brokers of Bordeaux, intermediaries in the wine's market in 17th-18th centuries

The French system of wines brokerage in the 17th and 18th centuries is regulated by royal edicts but also by regional characteristics, in link to their old urban origin. So, if the official brokerage disappears in Champagne and in Burgundy in the second half of the 18th century, for the benefit of the commission agents, it's not the same in Bordelais. Moreover, the brokers occupied a real role in the definition of the hierarchies and the qualities of wines, thanks to a complex reorganization of the brokers' corporation. This corporation was divided between royal brokers and patented brokers, but it remained important, in spite of the activity of unofficial agents, called flying brokers. It is necessary to consider several explanations, in link with the professionalization of the wine brokers' corporation of Bordeaux, but also with the quantitative and qualitative transformation of the wines' market. Indeed, brokers had an excellent knowledge of the vineyard and wines. Furthermore, their role to defend the producers and the quality of the wine-producing hinterland establishes an essential determiner of the preservation of the brokerage in Bordelais, beyond the questionings of the second half of the 18th century.