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I am pleasd to enclose my latest column, with best regards to my St. Emilion friends, the Manoncourts.
William S. Shepard
ancien Consul Generale des USA a Bordeaux
BonjourParis
2008 Bordeaux Wine Festival Exceeds Expectations
By Bill Shepard
For years, Bordeaux’s Vin Expo, held every other year for wine professionals, including importers, restaurant professionals, and the wine writing press, has been the highlight of the wine year. It features many tastings, highlighted by a Grand Cru dinner, and an opportunity to compare different vintages in considerable depth. I greatly enjoyed VinExpo in Bordeaux when I lived there in 1985. That tradition not only continues, it has been expanded. I enjoyed attending a VinExpo in New York in 2002, and another one has since been held in Asia. Meanwhile, some jealousy has ben engendered by success, as rumors persist of a pullout by some wine makers over charges that Bordeaux favors its own wines.
Which, of course, would be a shocking thing to do.
Under the inspired leadership of Bordeaux Mayor (and former Prime Minister) Alain Juppé, attention is now being paid to the alternate years when VinExpo is not held. This last week, June 26-29, saw the latest, sixth edition of a popular and well-organized festival, Bordeaux Fête le Vin, or the Bordeaux Wine Festival. This is a welcome opportunity for participation in Bordeaux’s wine riches on a vast scale, and this year an estimated 450,000 visitors availed themselves of the opportunity.
The arrangements were well thought through, and underwritten by the City of Bordeaux, itself now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There was an international dimension. Special attention was paid to St. Petersburg (a twin city with Bordeaux), with opera stars supplying grand music, and Quebec, now celebrating its 400th anniversar of its founding by Samuel de Champlain. A nice grace note was provided by a tall ship, the Cuauhtemoc, as the festival began. This three-masted Mexican windjammer, manned by a crew of 275, was named for a national hero, the last Aztec Emperor of Mexico, and it thrilled the crowd as it sailed into the Bordeaux port area.
There were, of course, food and fine wines galore, and various wine passes and restaurant specialties. There were colorful ceremonies, including a procession in full regalia of the Connétablie de Guyenne, a regional wine organization founded in 1154 of which I am a member. You could, for example, participate in the Bacchus Banquet, an immense open-air buffet picnic! You could sample, at a brasserie devoted to the undeservedly little known wines of Pessac and Léognan, three glasses of wine from that region for 7.5 euros. And in the evening, a Son et Lumière devoted to Bordeaux’s wine history and vineards, projected in the walls of the Palais de la Bourse.
I was particularly glad to note the Vineyard Passes, available at 70 euros per day. Expensive? Well yes, but a good bargain for what was provided. Having negotiated myself many times the sometimes confusing vineyards of the region, it is a pleasure to note that these passes eliminated the need for GPS guidance through the region. There were nine different daily excursions possible. Provided were transportation by airconditioned bus, luncheon, guide service, and wine tastings at three named châteaux per day. You could choose, for your excursion, St. Emilion, the Médoc des Grands Crus, Sauternes et Graves, or the Entre-deux-Mers. Any one of these excursions would be a great treat, and an eyeopener into this region of superb wines.
The Bordeaux Fête le Vin 7th edition will be held in June, 2010. I’ll see you there!
A St. Emilion note, for those who have been following the controversy unfold... The St. Emilion wine classification, unlike the famous Médoc Classification of 1855, provided for updating, and a reexamination every ten years. The last one was in 2006, and it made some changes. The Premiers Grands Crus Classés A remained just Château Ausone and Château Cheval Blanc, while two Premiers Grands Crus Classés B, Château Pavie-Macquin and Château Troplong-Mondot, were added. Six new Grands Crus Classés were added, while eleven were dropped.
The Bordeaux court on Jul 1, 2008, upheld an earlier ruling that invalidated the 2006 reclassification. It basically said that it was unfair to taste all of the current classified wines first, then taste those trying to be reclassified. That put the latter at a disadvantage, the court said. The affected wine producers are contemplating their next move. One has to sympathize with the owners of Château Troplong-Mondot, who are thus penalized for having prevailed despite what the court said was an unfair tasting. They held their own, and were reclassified upwards. Now they will have to start over again.
And I was sorry that Château Figeac, a superb, velvety St. Emilion on the plain which is owned by my friend Thierry de Manoncourt, was not awarded the coveted Premier Grand Cru Classé A status. It was rejected because “Figeac does not sell at the same level of price as Cheval Blanc or Ausone.” That may be so, but it only means that connoisseurs who appreciate Château Figeac are buying the wine at a relative bargain.
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