Posted on 07/02/2008 8:44:18 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
The Bordeaux region's St Emilion wines have been stripped of their top classifications by a French court, which has ruled that "grand cru classés" labels should be taken off bottles.
The ruling follows a year-long legal fight by four wine makers whose wines were demoted in 2006. They argued that the system used to rank wines after a tasting was "partial".
"It's an aberration to condemn the classification over so little," said Nicolas Thienpont, owner of Chateau Pavie-Macquin, recently awarded the second highest rank of St Emilion premier grand cru classé.
"All those who have worked so hard to move up the rankings are being told today: 'sorry, because of four imbeciles who don't agree with it, we will cancel everything'," he said.
Christine Valette, owner of Chateau Troplong-Mondot, also recently promoted to Premier Grand Cru Classé, was livid: "I am in shock. The team at the chateau is in shock. I never imagined this could happen," added Mrs Valette, who said she has spent the last 20 years working toward winning the prized title.
Founded in 1954, the ranking, which applies only to the St Emilion region and is reassessed every 10 years, consists of three classifications - premier grand cru classé A, premier grand cru classé B and grand cru classé.
A jury of brokers, merchants, oenologists and a wine professor conduct blind wine-tastings of vintages from the previous decade. They also judge a range of other criteria, such as terroir - quality of the soil - the blend of the grapes, bottling conditions and price.
The rankings are said to boost the price of the wine by about 30 percent, and thus also affect property prices.
A new list of top wines for 2006 to 2016 shrunk from 68 to 61 the number of grands crus classés.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Let then drink beer.
I never heard of Thunderbird needing these kinds of appellations, and it probably outsells all those fancy wines 2:1 combined!
Only slightly /sarc
Good lord, no, then they'll want to class the beers too.
Damn, they should get a life.
I mean, I like a good wine and appreciate it. But there's a reason I drink tequila by choice. It's trustworthy.
T.J.’s “Two Buck Chuck” won multiple top awards last year. Proof you buy and drink that which you like. Anybody else’s opinion is theirs.
Well, there's plenty of Californian's who have a pretty big cobb in a certain part of their anatomy on the subject of wine. Taking wine way too seriously can happen anywhere.
You’ll never believe who created Thunderbird...
“..With the end of Prohibition, the Gallo brothers set out to dominate what was then a relatively small and down-market American wine industry. Ernest wanted the company to be the “Campbell Soup company of the wine industry” and effectively marketed cheap, fortified (20% alcohol content) wines like White Port and Thunderbird in inner city markets. A radio jingle for perhaps the Gallos’ most notorious product went like this: “What’s the word? /Thunderbird/ How’s it sold?/ Good and cold/What’s the jive?/ Bird’s alive/ What’s the price?/ Thirty twice.” According to author Ellen Hawkes, who wrote an unauthorized history of the Gallo family called Blood and Wine, Ernest later delighted in telling the story of driving through a tough, inner city neighborhood. Seeing a man on the sidewalk, Gallo rolled down his window and called out, “What’s the word?” The immediate answer was, “Thunderbird.”
As the company grew, eventually becoming the largest winemaker in the country and then the world, it struggled to shed its low-rent image. A New Yorker cartoon about winedrinkers captured the dilemma. The caption reads, “Surprisingly good, isn’t it? It’s Gallo. Mort and I simply got tired of being snobs.” The drawing warmed the heart of Ernest Gallo and now hangs in his Modesto, California office...”
Ernie Gallo always said were it not for the bums on skid row, he would have been just another central valley farmer.
Give me my Bourgogne, my Napa Valley Cabs, my Argie Malbec, and my Priorat, and I am a happy man.
Besides, if ever I want the hard stuff, I reach for 30 year old single malt.
“Good lord, no, then they’ll want to class the beers too.”
Probably soon, given what the French Walloons have done in belgium with beer (the flemish too!)
Good point.
That's a great story, thanks!
I actually didn't favor Thunderbird that much myself, and then only in my early years. I saw it twice too often, if you know what I mean.
But I had friends who swore by it. And on it, and under it...
Well, yeah... I only drink the better stuff these days, since for the small amounts I drink I can afford to get it. The best tequila is hallucinogenic.
> Give me my Bourgogne, my Napa Valley Cabs, my Argie Malbec, and my Priorat, and I am a happy man.
I will do so, and add my share of same in this world, since I'll make little use of it myself.
> Besides, if ever I want the hard stuff, I reach for 30 year old single malt.
That stuff is hallucinogenic too. Have tried good single malts a few times, and was suitably impressed.
All this, over some fermented fruit and grain.
The ancients are laughing at us...
Terroir is about more than the soil. It also includes the climate. The local know-how used to be an important factor as well.
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