For wine lovers, Bordeaux is the centre of the universe. But in the past two decades, revolutionaries have stormed its traditional bastions, making their mark - and their fortunes - modernising the production and marketing of wine. Noble Rot introduces the figures who epitomise the changes sweeping Bordeaux: the feuding family behind Chateau d'Yquem; a stonemason turned winemaker whose wine, made in a garage, sells for huge sums per bottle; the Maryland-based critic Robert Parker, whose opinion routinely makes or breaks a wine; and the New World operations that have undercut Bordeaux's supremacy. It also delves into the mysteries of the legendary classification of 1855: how it became the bible of Bordeaux and how it was challenged.