n the 1860s, Gaye-Bordas had the brilliant idea of selling Bordeaux wine door-to-door in northern France and Belgium. Using his peddler skills from his time as an itinerant umbrella salesman, he marketed himself as a winemaker, even though he was sourcing the wine from Bordeaux producers. He would travel, sell wine, and only collect payment on his next trip, a system that gained him widespread trust and success.
This was the start of the Bordeaux wine trade and Jean Gaye-Bordas became rich overnight. His method was so successful that hundreds of other merchants from Meymac and the surrounding region followed suit. This period of wine trading brought new wealth to the Haute-Corrèze region, and the legacy of these merchants is still visible today in the town’s grand architecture and continued prosperity.
Many merchants actually bought vineyards in the Bordeaux region themselves. Some families from the Corrèze still own vineyards in the best Bordeaux crus, including châteaux in Saint-Emilion and Pomerol, such as Château Taillefer, Château Lafleur-Pétrus and the amazing Pétrus.
These prestigious families developed the wine trade, taking advantage of Bordeaux’s maritime gateway to Great Britain, which was fond of good Bordeaux wines, and later to the United States.
