Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous places to meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. Wine brotherhoods have historically been much appreciated by French spymasters, who are happy to use them for diplomatic leverage with their foreign counterparts.
During President Emmanuel Macron's first term of office, two of Europe's top spymasters spent an entire weekend travelling along the Burgundy wine route. The pair – Bernard Émié, then head of France's DGSE foreign intelligence agency, and Bruno Kahl, head of its German counterpart, the BND, used their wine-tasting getaway to get to know one another
