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? Today, the Comptoir des Millésimes team brings you a hot topic in the wine world! It's not a rumor, but a fact: two of the Saint-Emilion appellation's great leaders have refused to submit an application to take part in the 2022 St Emilion wine classification! Why and how? We'll tell you!

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How do Ausone and Cheval Blanc rank today?

? They are among the only Saint-Émilion châteaux to have held the Premier Grand Cru "A" classification since the appellation's first classification in 1955. Today, the classification is being called into question following their refusal to participate for 2022.

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What about 2022?

? The rule continues forappellation St Emilion with a classification under the aegis of the Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité (INAO) for the year 2022. It's a sort of update of the classification, with châteaux required to submit an entry form as a condition of participation. A benchmark classification in the wine world. The stakes are commercial and financial for the wineries. It should be noted that the 2012 classification has been challenged in court for 8 years now.

 

Why do these two châteaux want out of the classification?

✅ Here's what Pierre Lurton, director of Château Cheval Blanc (LVMH), had to say: "We don't agree with the rating criteria, which stray too far from what we consider fundamental: terroir, wine, history" (Source: Terre de Vins). He also adds that "secondary elements are too important".

 

What can also be said is that the châteaux have their doubts about the criteria taken into account in the classification, which are not directly linked to the quality of the terroir and the wine:

  • Social networks
  • Wine tourism
  • Receiving visitors

 

✅ Concerning Château Ausone: "The terroir and tasting part occupies too small a share (in the rating) compared to the receptive or social networks," says Pauline Vauthier as director of the family winery. The Saint-Émilion classification does take into account tastings of the last 15 vintages, "but it's over a much longer period of time that great wines should be judged", she points out.


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So what does the board that issues the classification think?

? Jean-François Galhaud, the President of the Saint-Emilion Wine Councilregretted" this decision by the two leaders in the appellation's ranking. He adds that they are "turning their backs on the collective". "But when two star players leave a soccer club, it doesn't mean the club dies," he says, in defense of a "modern" ranking, a "social elevator" for producers and a "censor" forcing them to question themselves.

Bernard Farges, head of the Bordeaux wine interprofession, is cautious about the "business choice" made by Château Ausone and Cheval Blanc. "But I can see that Saint-Emilion is an area that is not declining in terms of dynamism, communication and visitors".

For Maître Eric Morain, lawyer for three châteaux not classified in 2012 and contesting the classification, this decision remains "courageous" and "puts the church back in the middle of the village". "It tells us: 'Let's talk about something other than this winery built by such and such a world-famous architect, or that wine you see in the latest James Bond film...'"; "There will be other battering rams" against this 2022 classification, a "colossus with feet of clay".

Two parties will go on trial in September 2021: Hubert de Boüard of Château Angélus and Philippe Castéja of Château Trottevieille, on suspicion of "illegal taking of interests" and of having participated in the process and establishment of the 2012 classification, at the same time as their wine estates were candidates for the Saint Émilion Grands Crus classification.

 

Stay informed on Comptoir des Millésimes about the progress of this project. ranking in 2022 ! Discover our St Emilion wines in stock on the website :

 

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