THE DEBATE OVER whether Bordeaux will be able to sell its next vintage seems to be taking place earlier and earlier. It used to be that a few weeks before the annual unveiling of the wines, during the weeklong En Primeur tastings held every spring, you might get the odd broker or château owner opining about the present state of the market and warning that the prices would have to come down or go up, depending on their interest. But here we are in November, and already there’s much debate about whether 2014 will be the vintage that brings the whole Bordeaux wine futures system crashing down.

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