• There are approximately 400 wine shippers in the Bordeaux region, accounting for the sale of some 70% of all Bordeaux wines.

• This sector is nevertheless very concentrated since forty firms are responsible for more than 80% of the Bordeaux trade's total turnover.

• 2003 turnover: 3.3 billion euros, of which one billion was from exports to more than 160 countries.

• The Bordeaux wine trade consists of extremely diverse firms in terms of size, capital, range of products, and type of clientele.

- 15 firms have an annual turnover of more than 50 million euros (57% of total turnover)
- 18 firms have an annual turnover of 20-50 millions euros (21% of total turnover)
- 11 firms have an annual turnover of 10-20 millions euros (6% of total turnover)

• Forty-four firms have a combined turnover of 2.1 billion euros, accounting for 84% of the total figure for all shippers in the Gironde department.

• Frequently originally established to sell wine from their private vineyard holdings, many businesses are family owned (especially in the Libourne area, but also in Bordeaux).

• Other firms are subsidiaries of large French or international wine and spirits groups (Pernod Ricard, Castel, Bernard Taillan, Diageo, etc.).

• Still other firms are owned by private individuals whose capital is shared with French or foreign companies.

• There are also a large number of small shippers who are uniquely involved with buying and selling i.e. they do not produce it in any way. Called négociants en chambre or négociants sans magasin, these operators do not hold stocks, and their job consists of finding customers for wines that they ship directly from the estate.