Home > Wine Features > Bordeaux Classifications: Recent Collapses

Bordeaux Classifications: Recent Collapses

Bordeaux is a strong feature of this site, and with every passing week it becomes a more significant part of it, with new profiles and tastings added almost every day. Naturally, since The Winedoctor sprang into existence in 2000, I have kept a few pages in my wine guides section on the different Bordeaux classifications, both the eternally immutable such as the 1855 classification of the Médoc, those regularly reviewed such as the St Emilion system, and those that have undergone their first ever revision, namely the Cru Bourgeois classification. And in recent years, I have had to revisit these latter examples, as they were appropriately revised, in 2006 for the former, and 2003 for the latter. The most recent storm in a wine glass has been in St Emilion, where the classification has been in place since 1955, and is subject to regular review by a committee of French industry members, appointed by St Emilion's Syndicat Viticole and approved by the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (INAO). Following on from the 1996 revision, 2006 saw the latest update, based on performance over ten vintages, from 1993 up to 2002. Over a marathon 39 meetings, the INAO committee drew up a new list, with some significant alterations. For some the news was good, for others bad. There were eleven properties demoted, as detailed below. Others were denied the promotion for which they longed. Naturally, it was not long before the reprisals began.

Demoted Chateaux

Ch. Bellevue
Ch. Cadet-Bon
Ch. Faurie-de-Souchard
Ch. Guadet St-Julien
Ch. La Marzelle
Ch. Petit-Faurie-de-Soutard
Ch. Tertre-Daugay
Ch. La Tour-du-Pin-Figeac
(Giraud-Bélivier)
Ch. La Tour-du-Pin-Figeac
(Moueix)
Ch. Villemaurine
Ch. Yon-Figeac

With any such classification system there will be detractors, and usually many of the points made are valid. Where properties have recently changed hands, the new owners are judged on the efforts of their forebears, which in many cases will be lacking. The investment and effort put into the estate by the new owner is not taken into consideration, and in particular this seems to apply to the freshly demoted Cadet-Bon, where the efforts of new owner Guy Richard, who purchased the estate in 2001, go unrewarded. The same is true of Bellevue, where star oenologists Stéphane Derenoncourt and Nicolas Thienpont have ratcheted up the quality since 2000, but again this has had no bearing on the outcome, which is demotion for Bellevue. In these cases, the actions of the Syndicat's committee seem more like a punishment than a new classification.

In addition, many are at pains to point out that the inclusion of price in the classification equation is, in their opinion, detrimental to the system. Two potential candidates for elevation were Thierry de Manoncourt, of Figeac, and the Nony family, of Grand-Mayne. Both failed to take the step up. Manoncourt was widely reported to be very disappointed in this decision, as an elevation would have placed Figeac on the Premier Grand Cru Classé A level (up from B), the same level as Cheval Blanc and Ausone. Apparently, the decision was said to be on the grounds that the wines of Figeac do not command the same high prices as those of the two aforementioned more illustrious estates. I personally believe that Figeac, although well known for turning out some lovely wines, does not match the quality either, so here this decision seems to be the right one, although I can understand Manoncourt's frustration at the committee's response, which seemed to suggest that if he perhaps increased his prices, he might gain the ranking he feels he deserves. Is this the message the Syndicat Viticole wants to send out?

So the system was clearly flawed to some extent, but the murmurings of discontent soon increased in volume as it became clear that there were more problems with the new classification than the presence of a few naturally disgruntled and disappointed proprietors might at first suggest. Owners of estates unaffected by the revision, such as Chateau Larmande (left), had nothing to worry about, but those demoted faced devaluation of stocks and land, loss of distribution networks and a potential financial crisis. It is perhaps not surprising, then, that a number of the demoted properties, initially reported to be three (Cadet-Bon, Guadet St-Julien and Villemaurine) although the final number (no doubt others came on board as the action gathered pace) seems to be seven (as reported in a local newspaper, Sud Ouest), have decided to take the Syndicat Viticole to court over the affair. And it seems they may have a good case; of the members of the jury, two were courtiers who had regular dealings with some of the chateaux, and one was an advisor to one of the leading estates. They hardly seem to be in possession of whiter-than-white impartiality, which suggests a remarkable lack of awareness of the impact of the whole process, and what was at stake for demoted chateaux. It all seems to me to have been tragically shortsighted and amateurish. And so, at present, although the classification stands, it may yet fall.

The unfolding of the St Emilion classification scandal bears remarkable similarities to the collapse of the system which ranked Bordeaux's numerous Cru Bourgeois properties, another very recent event. In early 2007, an action brought by a group of no less than 78 Cru Bourgeois estates saw the 2003 Cru Bourgeois classification repealed, the reason being conflict of interest on the part of some of the judges, just as it is with the St Emilion system. The events set a clear precedent, one that has direct bearing on the case as brought by the St Emilion proprietors. In addition, the St Emilion complainants have already engaged the services of Philippe Thevenin, the lawyer who forced the collapse of the Cru Bourgeois classification system. It seems to me that the days are numbered for the 2006 St Emilion classification. For the moment, I have added some appropriate comments to both my St Emilion and Cru Bourgeois classification summaries, and I will update them as new information becomes available. There is, I think, a lot of water yet to pass under the bridge of the St Emilion system, and what effect these decisions will have on Bordeaux's love affair with classifications in the future is difficult to predict. With that in mind, however, in part two tomorrow I will be looking forward at what is in store for Bordeaux, in terms of classifications at least. (31/3/07)

Part 2: Bordeaux Classifications: New Plans (1/4/07)