Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Saint Emilion’s classification : the press writes about it, but what is the ministry of Agriculture doing about this ?

The Figaro, AFP, France 2, 20 minutes, Sud Ouest, le Monde, etc… Will there be a new classification ? Nothing’s certain. Who will want to take responsibility ? While the most prestigious crus don’t need the classification to sell their wines, it is true that the classification can affect the price of a wine.
In the meantime, I hope that the Ministry of Agriculture will issue a ruling protecting the properties promoted in 2006, otherwise, we can expect a flurry of court actions in order to compensate the ex-promoted from this Saint Emilion soap!

The cercle rive droite des grands vins de Bordeaux
The 1st big meeting for wine merchants, brokers and colleagues took place in the Café Maritime, in Bordeaux to taste the 2008 cuvées of this club which includes 135 chateaux. It was very well attended, even though it is true that just taking in account the number of members of this club makes a lot of people. Doctor Alain Raynaud can be proud of the ground covered by the club and where many good to great wines are represented. besides a few problems with noticeable oak, which is normal at this point of aging, there was many good wines, ripe, full, and certain even reaching the best level of the past 10/15 years.

In addition to the wines I am involved in, I particularly liked: Fonroque, Grand Corbin Despagne , Saint Georges Pavie, La Clotte à Saint Emilion. In Fronsac : La Dauphine and La Vieille Cure and, of course, Moulin Haut Laroque. In Pomerol : La Fleur de Gay, Le Moulin, Feytit Clinet, Beau Soleil, Clos du Clocher and I am glad to see that Château Sainte Barbe d’Antoine Touton joined the Cercle. This is the proof that work can be rewarded.
(I would like to remind you that also included in the Cercle are : Haut Carles, Château La Commanderie de Mazeyres and Château Fleur Cardinale).

It seemed that brokers and wine merchants liked the wines they tasted, but this doesn’t take away the fact they are worried on the sale of the majority of the wines presented here.
Time is currently spent on figuring out the release price of the top brands, especially the 1st growths, from the 1855 classification, which are expected to take in consideration the current crisis and give a strong signal to the market. This doesn’t please my side as an owner, but I am looking forward as a wine merchant. The quality of the wine can help the campaign, if the prices reflect today’s financial crisis. My job as consultant pulls me in 2 directions: To do or not… That’s the question. This year will most likely be the year of all dangers.

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