The designation Cru Bourgeois for chateaux has existed in Médoc for many years. Various attempts to rank them, roughly in the style of the 1855 classification, have been made since the 1930s. More or less successful. It was previously a (semi-official) classification but is currently a private label. But from 2020, a serious attempt will […]
Cru artisan in the Médoc has made a comeback. This year, a new regulatory framework will be published. The cru artisan classification existed in the Médoc already in the 1800s. At the time it was small estates where the owner himself was the winemaker. In order to support the family he often also had another […]
The style of a Rioja wine is determined by whether it is a crianza, a reserva or gran reserva. And the different levels are determined by how long the wine has been aged by the producer, in oak barrels and in bottle. For consumers, this is a way to identify different Rioja wines. But many […]
The saga of the 2012 (2006?) classification in Saint Emilion continues. Maybe. Three chateaux, Croque-Michotte, La Tour du Pin Figeac and Corbin Michotte, disputed the classification because they felt they had been treated unfairly and believe that the evaluation of their chateaux left a lot to be desired. Corbin Michotte lost in 2012 its classification […]
It is not enough to be talented in making wine to succeed in wine. You also have to be a good business person. Hubert de Boüard at Chateau Angélus is certainly both. He is a sought after consultant that works with many wine producers around Bordeaux and elsewhere. His own Chateau Angelus was one of […]
Tim Atkin, Master of Wine, says South Africa is the most dynamic and exciting wine country in the New World. He has recently published his third annual report on the South African wines. In the report he also makes a classification of the, according to him, best estates. He was inspired by the Bordeaux classification […]
What do you most associate with Bordeaux, if not the grape cabernet sauvignon and the chateaux of the Médoc? Cabernet Sauvignon Among red grapes there is hardly any grape that is so well-known as cabernet sauvignon. Every single wine country all over the world with some self-esteem has some cabernet sauvignon vineyards. Its style and […]
The Cru Bourgeois classification in Médoc has a stormy past. It was first created in the 1930s and disappeared shortly after the 2003 update of the classification was cancelled. The reason for cancelling the reviewed listing was dissatisfaction protests from some chateaux that were not included. This update listed 247 chateaux. Cru Bourgeois resurfaced a […]
We are now contributors to Forbes and our first article for Forbes deals with an appropriately business-oriented subject: Bordeaux classed growths. But we have put a slightly different slant on it than usual. Rating the famous names as the best (which one tends to do when one tastes them looking at the label) is not […]
Will the Côte d’Or in Burgundy have a few more Grand Cru vineyards in a few years? Some people hope so while others are less enthusiastic. Applications from three premier cru vineyards in Pommard have been submitted to the INAO, the Institut National de l’ Origine et de la Qualité. They are Pommard Les Rugiens, […]
There is a vicious power game going on behind the beautiful chateaux façades of Bordeaux. At least according to Isabelle Saporta, a French journalist who has written an intriguing book about this particular subject. Among the most famous and prestigious chateaux, vino business is deadly serious and, just as in love and war, all methods […]
Yes, maybe we will have Beaujolais Premier Cru in less than ten years. Beaujolais continues its struggle to improve its image and to play in the higher leagues. Four years ago it began to analyse its vineyards to find the best plots. To add premier cru vineyards to the 12 Beaujolais appellations will help consumers […]
In late October we were invited by Bernard Magrez to a luxurious lunch at Le Cinq, star restaurant at the Hôtel Georges V in Paris. We were there to celebrate several things. Bernard Magrez’ Château Fombrauge in Saint Emilion had just been given its new classification, Grand Cru Classé, and he had only a few […]
After much anguish and agony the new classification in Saint Emilionhas been unveiled. But will it stick? This time? It was already overturned four times – or was it seven? – in courts and in parliament in earlier versions. Pierre Carle at Chateau Croque Michotte says it is illegal and invalid. He points to a […]
Illegal and invalid classification, says Chateau Croque Michotte It seems we have not seen the end of the debate around the new Saint Emilion classification (read our story). It was probably not very far from a classification that everyone could be happy with and not complain about. (Almost) no-one was downgraded. Lots of chateaux were […]
All the details and a critical review Saint Emilion has just announced the new classification of the chateaux. It has been a long time coming; the classification should be renewed every 10 years but this has been much delayed due to legal wrangling. The new classification includes some substantial changes but perhaps not dramatic surprises, […]
A newish Tuscan region gains DOCG and starts to make its mark When talking about the wines of Tuscany it is easy to forget that there are much more than the three big names, Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Brunello di Montalcino. That would be a mistake. There are many more exiting wines to […]
The Bordeaux Grand Cru Classé 1855 classification is old but still going strong. What ever feelings you have about the fact that a classification that was made more than 150 years ago is still valid, you have to admit that it is an achievement. I doubt that the people of the Chamber of Commerce in […]
The most famous of all wine classifications was made more than 150 years ago. The 1855 Bordeaux Grand Cru Classé Classification, made for the World Exhibition in Paris that same year. The people responsible at the time could hardly have imagined the impact this classification would have. It is mentioned constantly whenever Bordeaux and Bordeaux […]
The 1855 classification of Bordeaux is really a classification of chateau, meaning the building, or the “brand” attached to the building, rather than a classification of a vineyard or a terroir. The classification comprised 60 chateau in the Medoc, except for one that was in the Graves, producing red wines and 27 chateaux in the […]
Much have changed in South African wine production over a few decades. Today they use a classification system called Wines of Origin (WO) based on three levels: regions, districts, and wards. There are four regions, with varying number of districts. Each district can have several wards. It is questionable if today there are any distinct […]
What Price Bordeaux? By: Benjamin Lewin Vendange Press What Price Bordeaux? is an unusual and an interesting book. But let me start with two things that I find annoying, to get them out of the way. First, the title. The book is about so much more than “the price of Bordeaux” and the title makes […]
Last month we talked about the revived (and strange) Cru Bourgeois classification-but-not-classification in Bordeaux. This month it’s time for the no-one-knows-it-exists classification Cru Artisans. Cru Artisans exists since some 150 years back but during the latter half of the 20th century it fell out of use (or perhaps even earlier) and became virtually unknown. In […]
In the olden times there was something called the Cru Bourgeois classification in Médoc (Bordeaux). But then, in 2003, they decided to review and modernise the classification. But unfortunately they hit on some road bumps. Some, who were left out of the classification were unhappy and thought that the procedure had not been fair. Eventually, […]
Some areas in the Languedoc, that fulfil certain criteria, will be classified as Grand Cru according to a new proposal from the producers association, the CIVL. They want to have two levels: Grands Vins du Languedoc and Grand Cru du Languedoc. Grands Vins will include Minervois, Corbières, Saint Chinian, sparkling Limoux, Malpère, Faugères, Cabardès, muscat […]
The French sometimes put too much stock in the magic of words and in the value of appellations, as this story, just one of several about AOC and name wrangling, shows: In 2003 a new appellation was launched in the Loire Valley, with the blessing of the INAO of course: the AC Chaume Premier Cru, […]
Figuratively speaking. Chateau Labegorce Zédé (Médoc, Bordeaux) will cease to exist as a wine as of 2009. Both Labegorce Zédé and Chateau Labegorce are owned by the family of the deceased Hubert Perrodo. The two wines will now be combined and be sold under the label Chateau Labegorce. The family also owns the Chateau Marquis […]
A new court ruling (will it be the last in a dozen or so?) has established that both the classification from 1996 and the one from 2006 will be valid. In other words, the chateaux that were classified in 1996 will all retain their honorific label and those that were upgraded in 2006 will keep […]
The meandering story of the new classification of Saint Emilion seems to be a story without an end. It has long since past the limit between reasonable and ridiculous. The classification is supposed to be reviewed every ten years, the last time in 2006. Here’s the story in (very) short: In 2006 a new classification […]
Well, you cannot call it much else but a circus… At the beginning of July a court decided that the ‘new’ Saint Emilion classification should be annulled. This was the third court to deal with the issue and was thought to be the final word. Not so. The French Senate has now decided that those […]
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