St. Emilion: The Peyton Place of France
The drama continues in France.
Early in July, a Bordeaux administrative court ruled that the St. Emilion reclassification of 2006, in which several chateaux were promoted, was invalid. But pretty quickly the French government stepped in - in fact, the French Senate - and reinstated the older 1996 classification. They also gave the INAO (Institut National des Appellations d'Origine), the organization that regulates appellations, until 2010 to devise a new classification procedure that is more quote "fair."
Of course, for the chateaux that were promoted in 1996 that's good news. But for those that were promoted in the 2006 re-classification, it's very bad news. Eight properties now find their recent elevations in limbo, including two that were promoted from Grand Cru Classe to Premier Grand Cru Classe: Pavie-Macquin and Troplong-Mondot.
You know, even in their silliest moments I doubt that the United States Senate would intervene in a dispute about winery classifications - even in Napa. And in doing so, what they've really done is prolong the agony of the entire right bank wine community rather than resolve the issue. The whole thing is likely, in my view, to end up in European Community court one way or another.
In the meantime my suggestion is that you continue to buy and drink good wine from St. Emilion, which a lot of Americans overlook because they believe it lacks the cachet of left bank Chateaux like Margaux. So I'll make some suggestions about St. Emilion in a future column, where Merlot and Cabernet Franc are the stars rather than Cabernet Sauvignon.
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