He grabbed the bottle of wine from the wooden table and passed it to Niels, who let out a low whistle of appreciation. It was a Chateau Margaux -- the holy grail of red wine. Niels couldn't help but grin. He was going to crush his enemy at the negotiating table while trying one of the world's most highly regarded wines.

Niels believed that learning to appreciate wine was an apprenticeship akin to golf -- at first difficult to acquire, but then indispensable for business and generally agreeable as a pastime. And he had, in fact, come to love the taste of it. Chateau Margaux was a real bragging right, and he had never held its deep ruby on his tongue.