After months of gloom, Bordeaux wine traders are hoping the 2008 vintage will revive the market after steep price cuts and rave reviews from the world's most influential connoisseur.

The southwestern French region's rarest wines are sold every spring as a futures commodity, 12 months prior to bottling. With the world gripped by recession, many had been fearing financial disaster.

The futures sale only concerns a tiny percentage of the 800 million bottles the Bordeaux region produces annually but the prices of the top 20 wines help determine the public perception of the quality of the vintage.

This year, the big wine estates brought prices down sharply, opening the way for traders to target middle market wine drinkers after a period when the finest wines were priced for sale to only the richest speculators.

As Patrick Bernard, owner of wine merchant powerhouse Millesima, explained: "If the top 20 wines double or triple their prices as they did in 2005, all of Bordeaux wine is perceived as expensive. The first wine on the market was Angelus, one of those 20 wines, and they cut their price by 40 percent. A few days later, the First Growths came out with a 45 percent decrease and then Yquem with a 65 percent decrease."

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