The Saint-Emilion classification has been through troubled times in the past year : suspension, cancellation, chambers referal, legal amendments and a constitutional advisory committee...The legal imbroglio surrounding the hierarchy of the great estates of Saint-Emilion which was declared invalid last year by the administrative tribunal, may finally have come to an end.
Yesterday, Patrice Lerner, who is the spokesman for the Bordeaux administrative court of appeal, announced the partial cancellation of the 2006 - 2016 classification. If this is the case, the 61 distinguished classified growth and first classified growth estates and among them the eight châteaux which were promoted to classified growth status in 2006 will all be reinstated. The eight properties which lost their classified status in 2006 and which appealed against this decision, will be given the chance to recover their classification because each case will be re-examined by the classification committee.
The basic problem of inequality remains : this concerns the manner in which the contestants' wines were tasted and compared during the last classification in 2006. From the beginning of the tasting, which involved a total of 95 candidates, the classification committee had separated the wines from the 66 estates who were candidates for renewal of their classifed status from those who were competing for a chance to become classified growths. The committee argued that this method enabled the tasters to have a "quality reference level" to which the wines were compared.
"This was unequal differentiation," explains Patrice Lerner. The 1996 - 2006 classification should not have been taken into account in judging the new classification. "The tastings were not done anonymously", regrets Jean-Philippe Magret, who is defense lawyer for two châteaux who were de-classified, Croque-Michotte and La Tour du Pin Figeac. The first A and B classified growths which are the appellation's élite, were clearly visible because they were merely there to renew their status at the top of the hierarchy.
Legal subtlety :
A "grand cru classé" label ensures a price increase of 30% on a bottle and doubles the real estate value per hectare. These are arguments put firmly forward by those in charge of the appellation system, especially since the classfied hierarchy has been under threat.
There were sighs of relief yesterday after spokesman Patrice Lerner explained that it was not a question of erasing the 2006 - 2016 classification by the mere signing of a document.
The legal reasoning behind this statement is founded on the distinction between the competition and the examination.
In the first case, the candidates' wines are compared to eachother. In the second case, candidates are judged in relation to a level of quality. If the classification tasting is considered to be a competition, then any proved discrimination would invalidate the whole proceedure.
If, however, the tasting was considered to be an examination, only the jury's decision concerning the penalised candidates would be invalid.
As there is a limit to the number of châteaux admitted into the classified élite (not more than 90), surely the classification tasting is more a competition than an exam?
"We must put things into perspective. There were only 95 candidates after all," says Patrice Lerner, who lays emphasis on the fact that the jury made decisions based on the "quality reference level" . Where there is a level, there is surely an examination with a pass or a fail in relation to that reference level.....
"Either this classification is legally acceptable or it is not. There must be a clear decision," demands Philippe Thevenin, who is defending Châteaux Cadet Bon, Guadet-Saint-Julien and Lamarzelle.
The proprietors of these châteaux and the rest of those who 'failed' to pass the jury's tasting test, are not particularly reassured by the idea of having to take the exam again. They have not minced their words during this affair and the jury is well aware of that.
As Jean-Claude Martin, defense lawyer for one of the châteaux, said yesterday :"Everyone admits it. Bordeaux wines are getting better and better in terms of quality. However, there are less and less great classified growths in Saint-Emilion : 61 today as opposed to 84 in 1969. People are no longer thinking about the wine itself. All they think about is money. This classification is actually no more than a élitist club of brand-names whose hope is to find Château Ausone or Château Cheval Blanc on tables for 1200 - 1500 euros a bottle."
Author:
d.Richard
S.O. 13/02/09
Translated by Maxine Colas.
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