French government dismisses St-Emilion reclassification proposal

The French government council has thrown out a move to reinstate eight declassified St-Emilion chateaux.

The dismissal, yet another in the rollercoaster saga of the St-Emilion classification, followed the attempt by senators Gerard Cesar and Philippe Dominati to reinstate the chateaux to their 2006 status – either Premier or Grand Cru Classes. The return to the 1996 classification effectively demoted them to Grand Crus.

Cesar and Dominati tried to effect the change as part of a finance law amendment passed by the French government in December. They claimed the eight chateaux had lost potential revenue following the return to the older classification.

The proposal was thrown out by the constitutional council as being inconsistent with such legislature.

A local court in Bordeaux rejected a case for the return to the 2006 classification in late October. An appeal is currently under way.

The eight chateaux are: Chateaux Pavie-Macquin and Troplong-Mondot (Premier Grand Cru Classes in 2006), with chateaux Bellefond-Belcier, Destieux, Fleur-Cardinale, Grand Corbin, Grand Corbin-Despagne, and Monbousquet (Grand Cru Classes in 2006).

Written by Oliver Styles