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New Cru Bourgeois listing provokes outrage - and satisfaction
June 24, 2003
Adam Lechmere
The first-ever Cru Bourgeois classification in the Medoc has become law amid cries of cronyism from one negociant, and general satisfaction from others.
Of 490 chateaux which registered to be included in the classification, the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce has listed just 247 as either Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel (9 chateaux), Superieur (87) or Cru Bourgeois (151).
Chateau Sociando Mallet, one of the most highly-regarded of the old Cru Bourgeois, is not included because owner Jean Gautreau felt the reputation of the wine was such it was unnecessary to apply. The nine Exceptionnel properties are Chasse Spleen, Haut Marbuzet, Labegorce Zede, Ormes de Pez, Pez, Phelan Segur, Potensac, Poujeaux and Siran.
Most negociants and owners are pleased with the results, regarding the listing as sensible and useful for consumers, but others are complaining of inconsistencies and unfairness.
Jean-Francois Mau of major negociant and owner Yvon Mau is 'outraged' by the exclusion of Chateau Preuillac, the distinguished property he purchased in 1998.
'I feel it is unjust,' he told decanter.com at Vinexpo. 'I am outraged. It is a huge injustice to be judged on the past and not present performance.'
Mau was referring to the fact that the judging panel had judged the quality of the wines in vintages 1994 to 1999, therefore excluding any vintages since Yvon Mau took over the property.
'It is copinage (cronyism),' Mau's son Jean-Christophe said. 'All of the jury are Bordeaux insiders, including owners of Cru Bourgeois properties.'
Another Bordeaux producer complained of the fact that some properties had their first and second wines included Haut Marbuzet for example also appears in the Superieur list with Chambert Marbuzet. The new classification was supposed to put an end to this practice .
The panel - 'a jury of rigorous professionals' according to a press release from the Chamber of Commerce is made up of 18 individuals drawn from the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce, the Gironde Chamber of Agriculture, the Bordeaux Faculty of Oenology, and other highly respectable Bordeaux institutions.
Members include Thierry Gardinier of Chateau Phelan-Segur, which made it into the Exceptionnel list, deservedly in most people's opinion, Christian Delpeuch, head of Ginestet, one of the biggest Bordeaux negociants, and other stalwarts of the Bordeaux wine establishment.
Another major negociant, Jean-Marie Chadronnier of Vins et Vignobles Dourthe, which owns three Cru Bourgeois Superieur properties and one Cru Bourgeois, was dismissive of any idea of cronyism.
'Of course there were no politics involved. I could have been disappointed that our Chateau Le Boscq was not in the Exceptionnel list. It is considered one of the best St Estèphe properties, but I understand that historically the real quality of the wine dates from 1995. It is quite recent.'
Chadronnier told decanter.com he thought the new listing was 'not the event of the century' but it was 'a good move a new way of ordering things, a revision of a system that was not clear.'
The panel used seven criteria for judging, including terroir, viticulture, bottling conditions, consistency of quality, and the general reputation of the property.
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