Sylvie Cazes: early Bordeaux scoring is ‘marginal’ problem

Sylvie Cazes, president of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux (UGC) has hit back at criticisms the UGC is not tough enough with journalists who publish scores early.

Bordeaux 2010: critics ‘respect rules”

Following French critic Michel Bettane’s open letter of complaint about those who publish before the official start of en primeur week, Cazes said most respect the rules.

‘Every year there are a few journalists who taste before en primeur, and we ask all of them not to publish their notes before the official week. Almost all respect this rule completely.’

She said the UGC had no jurisdiction over the press, nor over individual chateaux – their role was simply to provide samples in the best possible conditions for journalists. She added she considered pre-publication a minor problem.

‘We cannot of course tell individual chateau members of the UGC what to do – or of course other Bordeaux chateaux who receive journalists – but we believe the problem remains very marginal.’

Bettane went on, in a letter to Decanter.com, to lambast critics who considered themselves ‘supermen… able to give a precise ranking on one short tasting, one sample, in real time, and not after a complete tasting of the vintage’.

Written by Jane Anson in Bordeaux