June 15: Chateau Petrus, the most iconic wine estate in Pomerol, Bordeaux (right bank) lost a Trademark case against CGM Vins , producers of daily drinking Petrus Lambertini selling at one hundredth of the price of the Real McCoy a few weeks ago, raising many eyebrows, but even the judges admitted the smart way the producer had labelled the wine and it could not be termed illegal, never mind that Petrus had announced going for an appeal and the higher courts might be taking yet another view, writes Subhash Arora who feels that Petrus Lambertini could find a ready market in India
After a seven-year legal battle between Chateau Petrus against CGM Vins, producers of Petrus Lambertini, a Cotes de Bordeaux wine, the Bordeaux appeals court recently ruled that the makers of the cheap, blended wine selling for less than $20 a bottle can continue to use the name Petrus as a part of the label, thus quashing a petition by the former to force them to drop the word ‘Petrus’ from their brand name on the grounds that it was misleading.
Petrus Lambertini is one of the better known Cotes de Bordeaux (hilly area of the Right Bank of Bordeaux) wine with 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon made by Coreau brothers.. This rich, powerful and yet supple wine was made in honour of the first mayor of Bordeaux elected in 1208 and is the second wine of Petrus Lambertini. The mayor had refused to hand the keys of the city in 1208 to the besieging forces of the King of Castile, in today’s Spain. The winery reportedly made 20,000 bottles of Petrus Lambertini No. 2 and 12,000 bottles of Petrus Lambertini from the 2011 vintage. The average price per bottle is Rs. 983 ($14) and has a 3 star rating and 87/100 points, according to Wine Searcher.
In comparison, Petrus is the Rolls Royce of Bordeaux wines produced in Pomerol, the smallest and arguably the most prestigious wine region of Bordeaux. A magnum of its 2015 vintage costs more than $8,000 and the average price of a bottle of Petrus exceeds $2,500. Unlike many other grands vins (this word combination has no legal sanctity and is used ubiquitously by producers to create the image of a superior wine) of Bordeaux which also produce cheaper second wine labels, Petrus makes only a single high-quality vintage.
Château Petrus said that the case against CGM was about misrepresentation and trying to create confusion in the mind of consumers. ‘A case was filed in 2011 against CGM because a seller on the internet was trying to sell one of the bottles marketed by this company, pretending it was our second wine,’ Petrus reportedly said.
Château Petrus has said that they will appeal against the judgement and that a separate civil case about the use of its name was also under process.
CGM Vins had successfully argued for the appeals court to overturn a previous
judgement preventing sales of its wine, Petrus Lambertini No 2. CGM Vins
director and one of the brothers owning 
the
company, Stéphane Coureau reportedly said that its official trademark,
‘Coureau & Coureau Petrus Lambertini Major Burdegalensis 1208′,
had been legally registered since its creation and that he was currently
marketing the 2015 vintage. The label was registered
in 2011, according to reports.
The dispute began in 2011, when Petrus Lambertini was first marketed. Its
labels showed “Petrus Lambertini” in large letters, with “Nº
2” underneath. The Court imposed a fine on CGM and ordered it to
halt sales under the brand name.
But the firm appealed and won its case. The court judgment complimented CGM on their clever use of the trade mark which they registered in order to attract the customer’s attention, pointing out that the practice was not illegal. The respondent company had listed 47 differences between the labels of Petrus and Petrus Lambertini which was apparently enough to avoid any confusion. The Appeals court has accepted that the two labels are radically different. It ruled that consumers could not fail to realise that Petrus Lambertini “is neither a Petrus nor a second Petrus wine, which does not exist.”
The new ruling allows the firm to resume sales without removing ‘Petrus’ from its brand name. Stéphane Coureau says Petrus Lambertini would soon be back on the shelves.
In countries like India, where Mouton Cadet was sold implicitly as a family wine of Mouton Rothschild and where most drinkers have no clue about Petrus besides its high prices, and where phenomenally high taxes precludes it from entering the market, it is likely that Petrus Lambertini would find a ready market, if reasonably drinkable.
delWine would not like to pass any comment on the judgement since the matter is subjudice, except that the Chateau must have spent big amount of money and labour to create the brand and sustain it over decades. The Court of Cassation will naturally assess the legality of the decision of the Appeals Court and the earlier Court keeping all these factors in mind but above all, the legality. In the meantime, the wine will be soon available to an adventurous importer.
Subhash Arora
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