Merz's forthright, "shoot-from-the-hip" style of politics could add an interesting dimension to the meeting. His remarks can be surprising and make headlines - a stark contrast to those of his more cautious predecessors, Olaf Scholz and Angela Merkel.
I leave Élodie working her way down the rows of vines, and walk up to the house and winery in the Burgundy village of Morey-Saint-Denis, where I meet owner and winemaker Cécile Tremblay.She takes me down to her cellar to taste some of her prized red wines, standing among the oak barrels and old bottles with labels weathered by mould and age.
They have names on them that make wine lovers go weak at the knees - Nuits-Saint-Georges, Echezeaux, Vosne-Romanée, Clos-Vougeot, and Chapelle-Chambertin.Ms Tremblay sells over half of her wine abroad, under the name Domaine Cecile Tremblay."For the United States, it's around 10% of the production; it's a big production for me!" she says.
After threatening a 200% mark-up on alcohol from Europe, Donald Trump imposed a 20% tariff on practically all European Union products on 5 April.Four days later, he lowered this to 10%, with the threat that he'd hike it back up again to 20% in July, depending on how trade negotiations pan out. And now Trump is threatening a future tariff of 50% on all goods from the EU.
I ask Ms Tremblay if she's worried. "Yes, sure," she says, "As everybody is."
But that is all she will say on the matter. French winemakers are walking on eggshells at the moment, fearful of saying anything that might aggravate the situation.Speaking after a phone call with the Russian president, Trump said: "President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields."
Russian officials declined to confirm this on Wednesday night, but Moscow had earlier said that military options were "on the table" for its response.Trump warned in a social media post that the phone call, which lasted more than an hour, would not "lead to immediate peace" between Russia and Ukraine.
Russia's RIA Novosti, a state-owned news agency, said Putin told Trump that Ukraine has tried to "disrupt" the negotiations and that the government in Kyiv has "essentially turned into a terrorist organisation".The two also "exchanged views on the prospects for restoring cooperation between the countries, which has enormous potential," it said.