The long-standing president of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, Patrick Maroteaux, has announced he will be stepping down from the post in June 2008.

Maroteaux, who owns Chateau Branaire Ducru in St-Julien, took the helm of the UGC in July 2000.

Announcing his decision at the Union’s General Assembly, Maroteaux proposed Sylvie Cazes, the sister of Jean-Michel Cazes at Chateau Lynch Bages, as his replacement. Cazes is currently one of 12 board members in the UGC.

‘I prefer to remain in the background now, as I am sure there will be other candidates,’ Cazes told decanter.com.

To date, Cazes is standing uncontested, although the process is not yet closed. If elected, she would be the first woman to hold the position.

The UGC consists of 132 members (all prestigious chateaux from Saint-Emilion, Pomerol, Médoc, Graves, Sauternes and Barsac), but the president is decided by the 29 members of its administrative council.

Written by Jane Anson in Bordeaux

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Jane Anson
Jane Anson

Jane Anson was Decanter’s Bordeaux correspondent until 2021 and has lived in the region since 2003. She writes a monthly wine column for Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, and is the author of Bordeaux Legends: The 1855 First Growth Wines (also published in French as Elixirs). In addition, she has contributed to the Michelin guide to the Wine Regions of France and was the Bordeaux and Southwest France author of The Wine Opus and 1000 Great Wines That Won’t Cost a Fortune. An accredited wine teacher at the Bordeaux École du Vin, Anson holds a masters in publishing from University College London, and a tasting diploma from the Bordeaux faculty of oenology.

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