At least one the chateau owners often turns up for the affair.

For the chateau owners, the brokers find merchants who will buy their wines.

Once, chateau owners were proud to say their wines took three decades to mature.

How many Bordeaux chateau owners could match that: their own and 599 others?

If pressed, some chateau owners will acknowledge that they sometimes must open two or three old bottles to find a good one.

A good blend and 1,000 extra cases is the sort of combination bound to delight any chateau owner.

Eventually many other chateau owners did the same, taking control of their own wine.

Many chateau owners admit that they charge whatever the market will pay.

A group of some 20 chateau owners has agreed to participate, but that's hardly overwhelming support.

Some chateau owners and managers, particularly in the Medoc region, were talking of a better year than 1995.