BORDEAUX, July 28, 2008 (AFP) - Argentine international defender Diego Placente on Monday signed a two-year contract with French first division runners-up Bordeaux.

The 31-year-old said that he opted for the French side over offers from Greek and Spanish clubs because of the chance to play Champions League and the presence of his friend and compatriot Fernando Cavenaghi.

BORDEAUX, June 10, 2008 (AFP) - With the majority of chateaux owners refusing to cut prices by any significant amount and as demand remains soft, the 2007 Bordeaux wine 'primeurs,' or futures, campaign is being seen as a washout.

'People are turning their backs on the 2007 vintage,' said Jeffrey Davies, a Bordeaux wine merchant.

BORDEAUX, June 4, 2008 (AFP) - AC Milan midfielder Yoann Gourcuff has arrived in Bordeaux on a year's loan deal, the French first division club said on Wednesday, provided last minute loose ends are tied up.

The 21-year-old must still undergo a medical and administrative details need to be completed however.

BORDEAUX, France, May 6, 2008 (AFP) - French first division title-chasers Bordeaux have been ordered to pay 2.5 million euros (3.8m dollars) to former coach Elie Baup for unfair dismissal by an appeals court here on Tuesday.

BORDEAUX, France, May 6, 2008 (AFP) - Influential US wine critic Robert Parker has drawn long faces in Bordeaux, handing out a series of low scores, and telling buyers not to bother with the 2007 vintage unless chateaux owners cut prices substantially.

BORDEAUX, France, April 29, 2008 (AFP) - As prices for Bordeaux wine reach ever more astonishing levels, chateaux owners are finally tackling the tricky, and long ignored, issue of shipping and transport conditions by testing a new temperature tracking device.

BORDEAUX, France, April 13, 2008 (AFP) - March was a busy month for Bernard Magrez, winemaker slash property magnate slash billionaire, who has just bought himself six hectares of vineyard in Japan, not far from the slopes of Mount Fuji.

BORDEAUX, France, April 8, 2008 (AFP) - Stocks of many upper-end wines are so low in Bordeaux that local wine merchants are currently buying back stock sold to British buyers over the last few years.

BORDEAUX, France, April 8, 2008 (AFP) - As buyers and critics took part in last week's tastings of a difficult-to-grow 2007 vintage in Bordeaux, producers agreed that modern techniques were changing winemaking. Ten, 20 or 30 years ago this vintage would probably have been a write-off.

BORDEAUX, France, April 3, 2008 (AFP) - Chinese buyers in Bordeaux for this week's tasting of the latest and still unbottled 2007 vintage are also stocking up on earlier vintages to let the wine flow at the Olympic Games.