No sommelier had ever risen so rapidly as Bordeaux native Henri Marnier. At age 30 he had built a storied wine cellar at Au Troll Mignon in Neuilly. By the time he was 35, Henri's opinion could make or break entire harvests.

Across the ocean in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, no star at Cletus Siding blazed brighter than that of Burt Stump, winner of a national sales incentive trip to Paris.

So it was, on April 4, 1966, that the two had their one and only encounter. Following Henri's counsel, the Stumps ordered a '58 Chateaux Margaux. Stump took a sip and pronounced it "undrinkable." Marnier pronounced it "eminently drinkable." Stump said, "Fine, you drink it." Marnier answered, "Fine, I will," then finished the bottle in front of the Stumps, taking two hours to do so. "Margaux," he said, "will not be swilled."

Two hours later, France's premier sommelier collapsed. Three weeks later, he succumbed to Margaux-induced sepsis.

Four decades later, Henri Marnier remains "Le Martyr de Bordeaux." Burt and Brandine Stump enjoy an active retirement in Coral Gables, Florida.

---from a handout that encompassed our check at the local French joint.

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