The main role of the wine trade, particularly in Bordeaux, is to regulate the market – in other words, to ensure customer loyalty by regularly offering products at a price and quality that meets their needs.

Bordeaux has always been fortunate enough to have a strong and very diversified trade. This explains why Bordeaux wines are well-recognised and enjoyed by consumers around the world.

	PAST AND PRESENT For the past 800 years, traditional wine shippers have made a significant contribution to the regional economy and played an essential role in France's foreign trade.
	THE ASSOCIATION'S ROLE The Union des Maisons de Bordeaux is a source of information and advice, a means of cooperating and making decisions, a communication vector, and a way of protecting the trade's best interests.
	MARKETING The approximately 400 wine firms in the Bordeaux region are responsible for selling 70% of all Bordeaux wine.
	BRAND WINES Brand wines are produced, bottled, and packaged by a shipper who puts both his name and a brand name on the label.
	ECONOMICS ASPECTS The wine trade in figures.
	LIST OF SHIPPERS List of firms belonging to Union des Maisons de Bordeaux.