The ruling follows a year-long legal fight by four wine makers- château Guadet Saint-Julien, château La Marzelle, château Cadet-Bon and château La Tour du Pin-Figeac whose wines were demoted in 2006. They argued that the system used to rank wines after a tasting was prejudiced against producers like them.
Chateaux have been directed to remove the classifications of Premier Grand Cru Classé A or B, or Grand Cru Classé - which was applied from the 2006 vintage up to 2016 according to the classification system which was started in 1954 and is upgraded about every 10 years. Last upgrading has been done in 1996.
Apparently the commission decided 'that the wine tasting mechanism was not an impartial system,' said Philippe Thévenin, the lawyer who represented the châteaux fighting the new classification. 'The judge did not say the tasters were at fault, rather the mechanism,' he added defensively.
A spokesperson for the St Emilion Wine Union-Conseil des Vins de St Emilion described the situation as serious. It will wait for a decision from INAO (Institut National des Appellations d'Origine), the French body managing wine classifications, and the French Agriculture Minister, as to whether an appeal will be launched within the next two months. An appeal might take about two years.
'We are in shock,' said Christine Valette of Château Troplong-Mondot, which was awarded Premier Grand Cru Classé status in 2006. It's an aberration to condemn the classification over so little," said Nicolas Thienpont, owner of Chateau Pavie-Macquin, who was also awarded the second highest rank of St Emilion premier grand cru classé .
Chateaux Cheval Blanc and Ausone have been the only two Premiers Grands Crus Classés A.
Chateau Figeac's application to be promoted from Premier Grand Cru Classé
B to A has been rejected on the specific grounds that Figeac does not sell at the same level of price as Cheval Blanc or Ausone.
St. Emilion, the right bank of Bordeaux was not a part of the prestigious 1855 classification. It started its own system and consisted of three levels - premier grand cru classé A, premier grand cru classé B and grand cru classé. The rankings can affect the price of the wine by about 30 percent, also affecting the property prices accordingly.
A jury of brokers, merchants, enologists and a professor conduct blind tastings of vintages from the previous decade. They also consider a range of other criteria, such as terroir, the grape blend, bottling conditions and market price.
The new list of top wines for 2006 to 2016 had been shrunk from 68 to 61 the number of grands crus classes. The rankings were suspended last year pending the final judgment. The suspension was lifted last autumn, but Tuesday's decision is final now.
For many in Bordeaux however the situation without the St Emilion classification system would be impossible. "The whole situation is idiotic and absurd, they can't stop the 60 or more chateaux that have the rankings from using them," said Jean Baptiste Bourotte of Audy, a Bordeaux wine merchant.
Some of the people who have been upset may try to defy the ruling. During a visit to Bordeaux earlier, in April, many of the producers of St. Emilio had confided to DelWine that though it would be an absurd decision, it could be given in favour of the plaintiffs, upsetting the whole system. One of the chateau owners who had been down graded was supportive of the system, nevertheless. saying,' We won't want to upset the whole system existing for 60 years and generally working well.'
If the ruling is not changed, it will bring down the prices of most of the earlier classified Chateaux. In fact, many would find selling their wines a lot more difficult because of the absence of the classification which gave them a brand status of some kind. |