Another Cazes story today, as Jean Michel Cazes continues to take enact his retirement for active service in the Bordeaux wine scene!

This from a press release:
At the last annual General Assembly of the Commanderie du Bontemps de Médoc and Graves–Sauternes and Barsac, held on March 18, Jean-Michel CAZES, Grand Master of this important Brotherhood that is one of the oldest in France, officially expressed his wish to retire from the presidency. An extract of his speech before the Assembly, in which he explains the reasons for his decision, is enclosed with this communiqué.

Therefore, the Commandeurs du Bontemps, many of whom gathered on this occasion at Château Saint-Pierre in Saint Julien-Beychevelle, elected a new Grand Master.

The votes were unanimously for Emmanuel CRUSE, the young, dynamic co-owner of Château d’Issan, a splendid estate located in the commune of Cantenac at the heart of the Margaux appellation, Grand Cru Classified in 1855.

The CRUSE family has an important place in the history of Bordeaux wine. In 1812, Herman CRUSE, originally from Denmark, arrived and settled in Bordeaux, where he founded the house that would bear his name. His work and market intelligence worked wonders. Since that time, the Cruse family has not ceased to participate in building the Bordeaux Wine economy and bringing renown to the profession of Export Trader, all the while owning important wine châteaux.

At 40 years of age, Emmanuel is the third generation CRUSE at the head of Château d’Issan, which was acquired by his grandfather in 1945, after the Second World War.

Holder of a diploma in Law from the Faculty of Bordeaux, he also has a diploma from the London Chamber of Commerce, and has taken courses at the Faculty of Œnology of Bordeaux.

He started his career at Issan in 1993 and took over management in 1998. The quality of the vintages for which he is responsible shows the love that he has for his vineyard and his wine. Faithful to the family tradition, he is fluent in several languages and often leaves the banks of the Gironde River to travel around the world and promote his family’s wines and wines of the region.

An accomplished sportsman, vice-president of the Bordeaux Primrose sports club, Emmanuel Cruse is also Honorary Consul of Finland since 2002.

Long-time Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux president Patrick Maroteaux has announced that he will be stepping down in June.

I spoke yesterday to Sylvie Cazes, the sister of Jean Michel Cazes at Lynch Bages, and she confirmed that she is standing for the new president. Not only would she be the first woman to take the presidency (sound familiar?) but she is so far the only candidate, standing uncontested. I understand there are still a few more weeks to go for others to throw their hat into the ring, but it sounds as if she already has the official blessing of Maroteaux, who was the one to propose her at the last General Assembly, where he told the board he was stepping down.

The UGC (very busy this week with the en primeurs coming up) consists of 130 members (all grand cru chateaux), but the president is decided by the 29 members of the Conseil d'Administration. There are also 12 board members - of which Sylvie Cazes is one.

She was very modest yesterday, 'I don't want to talk too much about it now, there may well be other candidates and we should focus on the wonderful achievements that Patrick has brought in during his 8 years as president, in terms of opening up the UGC to international events, and taking its prestige worldwide.'

Sounds like a polished candidate already.

I covered the Paris pawn shops for Decanter yesterday (it really is a great story. The numbers of wines they are receiving going up all the time, so far most expensive bottle a Domaine de Romanee Conti for 5,000 euros.) They were apparently interviewed by the BBC last night, so you should see this in several media outlets over the next few days.

Also covered a story on the French drinking less than previously thought -
http://www.decanter.com/news/200079.html
This is particularly interesting in light of all the hysteria around wine in the media in France (and it was a media organisation that has come out with new, lower, drinking figures, no doubt to support their side of the story against the anti-drinks lobby).
I really agree with Leigh Claridge's words after my story. He works for Maison Sichel in the UK, and argues quite rightly that the French in fact have a highly responsible attitude towards drinking compared to much of Europe (okay, compared to the English). And yet drinkers in France are still demonised...

Here is his comment:
'I do not think we British have ever regarded the French as big drinkers. They drink wine with their food as part of their tradition and national heritage. They do not drink it to get drunk, and they are to be admired on this front. The French will soon be seeing a return to cross-channel shopping after the recent budget. How do they account for these figures I wonder, and are they ready for an increase in their duty? I have been in the Wine Trade since 1974, and the words "Duty harmonisation across the EU" resonate quite regularly. At 2p against £1.44 per bottle on table wine, the French have good reason to be happy. Their wine is cheap at home, and they drink sensibly. Why can we not follow suit? Our wine is expensive and we cannot drink sensibly. It does not make any sense at all!'
Leigh Claridge, Maison Sichel UK Office, London, UK

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/wine/article3607843.ece

March 24, 2008
Adam Sage in Paris

In a cold, dark cellar in Paris lie some of the world’s finest wines: 12 bottles of Château d’Yquem, a case of Château Margaux and a 1985 bottle of Romanée-Conti, estimated to be worth almost £4,000.

“Don’t touch it,” snapped a broad-shouldered warehouseman as The Times reached for the celebrated burgundy. “If you dropped it, the insurance wouldn’t pay.” His nervousness was understandable, for this is the first time in history that a French pawnbroker has accepted wine as a security against loans for its customers.

The initiative was launched by Crédit Municipal de Paris, the council pawnshop, last week. Within 48 hours, it had received more than 200 bottles with a total value of €45,000 (£35,000).

“We’re surprised to see how many people are doing this,” said Bernard Candiard, the chief executive, as he fondled a bottle of Bollinger champagne worth about €1,000. “Our wine expert is jubilant.”

Mr Candiard said that he had allowed Parisians to pawn wine because it was among their strongest assets, with the best-known clarets and burgundies often gaining value over time.

“If you have a good bottle, its price will not go down and may even go up.”

He added that he hoped to attract customers who would be loath to pawn objects usually brought to Crédit Municipal, such as jewellery, watches, paintings and fur coats.

“It’s a lot more discreet to take a few bottles of wine out of your cellar than to take a painting off the wall or a collar off your wife. The neighbours and the mother-in-law won’t notice.”

Among the Parisians who swooped on the offer was a doctor who brought €17,000 worth of bottles, including a 1961 Pétrus, considered by many experts to be one of the best wines ever made. In Britain, it sells for about £6,000, according to internet wine sites. He was followed by a pensioner with six bottles of Pomerol in a plastic bag, with a total value of €240. She borrowed €120.

Under the rules at Crédit Municipal, which is seen in France as a public service far removed from the Dickensian image of a British pawnshop, customers can take out a 12-month loan equivalent to half the value of the objects they leave.

Mr Candiard is pledging to keep up to 90,000 bottles in ideal conditions until their owners pay back the sums borrowed and reclaim their nectar.

Although some wine-lovers may be reluctant to move their best vintages, which travel less well than they age, Crédit Municipal is confident of overcoming any qualms. Experts say that if wine is well packed, transported in moderate temperatures and left to settle for several days after the journey, it regains all its qualities. But many of the oldest are never consumed, Mr Candiard says. Instead, they are kept as a family heirloom.

The cellars under the 1777 Crédit Municipal building have 80 per cent humidity, a constant temperature of between 12-13C and have been fitted with low-intensity light bulbs.

They could soon be full, to judge by the flow of Parisians to the institution known as Ma Tante (My Aunt) after the Prince of Joinville pawned his watch in the 1830s and told Queen Maria Amalia, his mother, that he had forgotten it, chez ma tante.

“It’s like the accident and emergency department here,” Mr Candiard said as he walked through a teeming mass of customers queuing at 21 counters for their objects to be valued.

Over the past five years, the number of Parisians using the pawnshop has increased by 35 per cent. A majority are women. “But one of our hopes with the wine is that more men will start using us as well,” Mr Candiard said. “I’m sure there’s a lot of demand that we could meet.”

I was amazed to read on Decanter.com this week that a few English merchants were giving good reviews to the Bordeaux 2007 vintage. This is normally the stage at which they are jockeying for lower prices. Maybe they have just given up with the exchange rate being so bad at the moment?
http://www.decanter.com/news/199561.html

This is much more positive than reports I have heard from negociants here after the first trade tastings last week. A few of them (rumours only!) left after tasting about 25 wines, saying 'I think we know what kind of vintage this is going to be.'

But universal praise, it seems, for Fieuzal, an excellent Pessac Leognan white which seems to be have done exceptionally well this year (as have many white wines).

More positive, also, from JL Thunevin's blog:
http://thunevin.blogspot.com/2008/03/2007-vintage-tasting-at-union-des.html
'The wines from Stéphane Derenoncourt, Right and Left Bank, were fruity, good and digest. Superb Beauséjour Bécot and Troplong Mondot again on top.

Saint Emilion not as homogenous as Pomerol, a few diluted wines, others too hard; I hope that La Dominique will be as well received as the 2006 where my appointment was noticed by my colleagues negociants.

As for the Left Bank, I liked Giscours and Le Tertre, Gruaud Larose and the white and red Graves: Of course Pape Clément and the surprise Fieuzal. I have not experienced this level of quality since Mr Dupuis (this goes to tell the jump in quality).

Our last meeting on Friday morning (last week) was with Majestic Wine Warehouse in South Ken. A great finish, as they have a very strong Bordeaux range, and the sector is very important to the company.

140 stores countrywide, all with carparks except Victoria and Mayfair branches in London. Aim is to sell wines only by the case (ie minimum of 12 bottles). Either take in the car, or with free delivery.
Affluent middle-class customers (particularly obviously in Kensington!!). Average spend £10 per bottle in Kensington (average across company is approx £5.50 per bottle, still way above average supermarket spend).

In this branch, December turnover was £600,000, of which £80,000 was Bordeaux – so the area is enormously important to them. Champagne bigger, but Bordeaux second in terms of revenue.
Nick Dagly buyer for Majestic.

Several smaller properties are bought direct, but also work with negociants and some co-operatives (particularly co-op of Saint Emilion. Chateau de Sours, for example, is direct and a huge seller. Chateau Meaume is their ‘house wine’, a Bordeaux Superieur. Always getting new wines. Also buy en primeur and sell on to their customers, through the website.

Always have tasting counter with open bottles, plus themed tasting evenings. Opportunity for small producers to come in and hold tastings for the shop staff – more effective than customer tastings, as reach more people ‘by proxy’.

As a company, focusing on moving average price points upwards. Margaux and Pauillac are top of the ‘high price points’ range. For Majestic again, grape variety is less important than it is in supermarkets, as customers have some wine knowledge. Labels are best traditional, and there is some resistance to screw caps.

Cheaper than anywhere else in the UK to buy champagne., and pricing is the same all over the UK (ie very good value in London).

Just finishing the write ups from London, as so much interesting info given. This was from meeting the wine department manager at the Waitrose in Canary Wharf.

As he said, Canary Wharf is often the canary in the mine for wine consumption in the UK - it is frequented by wine lovers, with enough money to make frequent purchases (in fact has the highest turnover of any Waitrose store), and many things that become national trebds start here.

They have also the biggest wine selection of any store, particularly strong on high value champagnes, Bordeaux and Burgundy. Right now, he said there seems to be a real reaction against New World Wines. They run a French Wine Fair and a New World Wine Fair twice throughout the year - and the French does better in terms of takings. Also backed up by general purchasing behaviour in the wine store.

Their biggest growth is in the £15 to £25 range. Single biggest earner is Veuve Cliquot, followed by New Zealand Sauvignon Blac (far better perceived than Bordeaux Sauvignon, who really do have a marketing job to do, great opportunity.)

Some small chateaux sold - eg Chateau Segonzac, a small Premieres Cotes de Blaye (but good back label in Englishm, and a screw cap even for the red).

New packaging is doing well for them - 50cl bottles, or environmentally friendly packaging such as La Baume (owned by Australian company, but French Sauvignon), or rose wine already in plastic glasses for picnics (also Australian).

'Cheap red Bordeaux is probably the nastiest wine that you can buy! Probably because there is no residual sugar to mask the faults.'

Interestingly, in contrast to many others we met during the week, he didn't think that variety was important to put on the label. 'For Bordeaux, it's a secondary thinkg, just part of the story and less crucial. Italy has done very well without focusing on grape variety, and Bordeaux should remember the danger of being caught out by being 'just another merlot'.'

Excellent website/blog on China and its wine market.
http://www.grapewallofchina.com/

Great story on Wine Business International (actually, fairly widely reported now, but so good I wanted to repeat it).

This is frankly just excellent marketing - as a Bordeaux Superieur chateau hardly makes it onto the radar of most people. But I'm sure plenty of other chateau owners are thinking 'why the hell didn't I do that???'

Chateaux owner insures his nose
by Sophie Kevany

A Bordeaux Chateau owner has insured his nose for €5m ($7.87m) with Lloyd’s of London. Dutch-born Ilja Gort, who signed the insurance contract on 17 March, owns Chateau de la Garde on Bordeaux’s left bank. “Winemaking and tasting is all done with the nose,” Gort said, saying the nose is essential to guarantee the quality of his wines. “There are only five different zones on the tongue, but in the nose there are about 50 million sensors. You actually taste with your nose.”

When his wines, classified as Bordeaux Superieur, began to win prizes the Dutchman decided his nose was worth insuring.

“We invest a lot in winemaking and my nose is used for judging the assemblage for example,” said Gort, who has just won a gold medal for his 2006 and 2005 Chateau de la Garde vintages at the Concours Général Agricole in Paris.

Gort, who bought the Chateau 10 years ago, produces about 80,000 bottles a year, all of which are sold by Sainsbury’s supermarkets in London.

He said his nose is now insured against both loss, and loss of smell. Asked the cost of the insurance, for which premiums are paid annually, Gort would only say it was somewhere in the thousands. “Between Jennifer Lopez’s behind and David Beckhams legs.”

Jonathan Thomas, the lead underwriter at Lloyd's Watkins Syndicate, said Lloyd’s specialises in these kinds of bespoke insurance policies.

Thomas told American news agency, AP, that his company had already insured the senses of taste and smell of wine taster Angela Mount for €12.7m in 2003, for her bosses at British supermarket chain Somerfield.

Certain conditions are included in the insurance, however, and Gort is now forbidden from riding a motorcycle, boxing, being a knife thrower’s assistant or fire breathing. But none of that is, literally, any skin off his nose.

As the first meeting is held in the UK between wine companies and packaging companies, in an attempt to make wine packaging lighter and more environmentally friendly,
( http://www.drinksmediawire.com/afficher_cdp.asp?id=2846&lng=2 )
I thought I would share with you the efforts of Veuve Cliquot. As champagne packaging is undoubtedly among the heaviest, most wasteful of all drinks, it's great to see someone taking active steps to reduce their impact on the environment.

Since 2003, they have been doing the following:
1- Reducing the packaging of their own suppliers - for example, they no longer buy liquid SO2 (sulphur) in 10 litre bottles, but in large containers of 6 hl , with smaller vats to deliver them to the vinifcation areas. All sugar (for dosage etc) is also now delivered 'en vrac'.

2 - They are working on more ecologicaly sound packaging. As Félix BOCQUET, Director of Quality and Environment, says, 'Our vocation is to make great champagnes. We don't want to create luxury products that harm the planet, that is anathema to the concept of luxury.' (that's debatable, but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt).
'As such, we are reviewing all of our packaging in light of their impact on the environment. We are looking principally at reducing the weight, the volume, lessening the number of different components, using recyclable material and renewable materials in our bottles, cartons, labels etc.'
'We can't change it all tomorrow, and have to accept that there will be some contradictions for a while. The demands of a prestige image and luxury products can be as much a hindrance as a source of innovation for new packaging ideas - but we are looking for the best compromise between quality, service and environment.'

Some subjects - such as the standard champagne bottle - can't be changed by one house but needs to come from the CIVC and agreements with all houses.

Veuve Cliquot are also:
3- Improving their delivery systems - working more with sea than air freight, ensuring full capacity of all containers etc.

4- Rewarding employees financially for making 'green choices'.

5- Using renewable energy in their production centres.

Something is definitely in the water in France. The latest attempt to clean up the naming conventions has appeared in the Loire, with the replacement of Vins de Pays du Jardin de la France with the rather more succint Vins de Pays de Loire.

This affects wine made in 14 departments, producing 50,000 hectolitres of wine from 7,300 hectares of wines.

it follows on from the introduction of AOC Languedoc - http://www.drinksint.com/articles/56945/Languedoc-plays-the-quality-card.aspx

Definitely seems a good idea for the French wine industry.

Also, an interesting short piece today in Sky news. Lloyds of London has insured 'the nose of a leading winemaker and taster for £3.9m'. Actually, not such a well known winemaker - Ilja Gort is the Dutch owner of Chateau de la Garde in Bordeaux, the producer of Tulipe Wines. But what a brilliant way to draw attention to your wines.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30400-1309920,00.html

The winemakers have gone back to Bordeaux today (I'm staying in London til Sunday to see friends). Very interesting week, particularly meeting with supermarket buyers and product technologists at Sainsburys, a wine floor manager at Waitrose, and a wine buyer at Majestic. Great for the winemakers to see how the sales strategy works in the different outlets.

At Sainsburys, we met Barry Dick the product technologist for wines, so responsible for developing the own label range. He said the wine department turns over £750 million per year on wines, and the same again for beer and spirits, across 500 stores nationwide.

Again, hope for smaller winemakers - their Taste the Difference range can be just 2,000 cases of selected high value wines. He pointed out the benefits of supplying for own label - if yoiu are selling just 'your brand/chateau' then you are presenting buyers with a yes/no option, whereas own label they have the chance to work with you to perfect the blend for their own customer profiles etc.

For rose in the UK, we heard what we have heard a few times this week; that the direct press method is better than the bleed method for the UK palate. I really agree with this, as it producers a ligher, more delicate style of rose. All the stores we visited this week sell rose as a separate category with all the countries placed together, rather than in each individual country section - so packaging for rose really is crucial.

Other interesting points - that journalists recommendations work just as well as price promotions in terms of getting a rise in sales (and medals of course).

On the second day of a week-long trip to London with a group of eight Bordeaux winemakers,where they are meeting buyers, visitings stores, doing tastings with press and public, and generally getting to know the UK market.

Excellent presentation yesterday by Jonathan Evans at Summit (a promotions company) on the UK market, and I give a few selected highlights here, in terms of the opportunities for Bordeaux.

1) Multiple off-licenses (such as Threshers) and independents have dropped large amounts of Bordeaux wines = opportunity for smaller chateaux to reclaim that market

2) Despite the huge growth in rose wine in UK (now approx 10% market share), Bordeaux rose share of that has dropped last year, and is an insignificant volume currently). Again, great opportunity to correct this.

3) More intelligent promotions could be used, such as starting at high price, dropping to reasonable price and making most of your yearly sales in that two week window. Chablis does it, Barolo does it, many 'high-perceived quality' areas, so why not Bordeaux?

4) The growth in the UK market is at above £5, because the actual rate of consumption is now fairly stable. This should suit Bordeaux very well. The supermarkets are of course aware that their opportunity for profit growth lies in this sector, and so are driving 'trading up' in price points. Over £5 is now 16% of the UK market.

5) Sauvignon blanc in general is great for Bordeaux, could capitalise on this more.

6) The idea of using chateaux as an identity (as the CIVB does in its advertising campaigns) is good to stimulate 'brand Bordeaux', and to convey idea that just seeing the word chateau on the label should mean hand-made, family-run, high quality etc etc. And average price of wines with chateau on the label is far higher than Bordeaux own brands etc.

7) Contrary to popular belief, the minimum needed for special promotions within supermarkets can be as little as 500 cases - particularly specific promotions in high-value areas of quality wines.

Plenty of opportunities (and they must be doing some things right, as Bdx is currently up 8% in supermarkets. It's in the independents and multiple off-licenses that they are having more problems (their traditional heartland).

The winemakers who are here, by the way, are:
Cécile Verdier & Thierry Mallié, Château Brethous, AOC, Premières Côtes de Bordeaux
Florent Guinjard , Château de Roquebrune, Lalande de Pomerol
Jean Daniel Débart , Château Cablanc, AOC Bordeaux Supérieur
Valerie Eymas, Château la Rose Bellevue, Premières Côtes de Blaye
Françoise Lannoye, Château Lanbersac Puisseguin St-Emilion, Château Moulin de la Clotte Cotes de Castillon andChâteau Tour Pourret St Emilion Grand Cru
Philippe de Roeck, Château de Villambis, Cru Bourgeois Haut-Médoc
Didier Marcelis, Château Serilhan, AOC St Estèphe

You might remember the fights over pricing of top Bordeaux brought up by Alain-Dominique Perrin, former head of the world's second biggest luxury group, Richemont (see write up here http://www.decanter.com/news/178587.html )

He basically said that even first growths can't cost more than €12 to produce and yet are being sold for close to €500. As you can imagine, there are many producers in Bordeaux who feel pretty annoyed about this (Perrin owns a vineyard in Cahors, but not in Bordeaux, so is he just sniping jealously? And luxury goods companies are hardly above reproach).

But I got an interesting comment from Lars Sarensen at Cascade Trade, Oregon. It was not in reaction to this article, but seemed highly relevant: 'Production costs don’t really vary that much regardless of the grape. It only comes down to what the vineyard owner is able to charge for his fruit and what the winemaker chooses to charge for his wine. The bottom line is this – there is no wine that costs more than $10 to $15 per bottle to produce. Sure, you can get into the debate about why you need to charge $100 a bottle for your Cult Calif Cabernet because you spent $1200 on a new French barrel, you use only the most expensive corks, labels, glass, capsule, etc., the wine spends 24 months in this barrel so you haven’t made any money in three years on this wine, but the formula still stands – from a materials perspective i.e. glass, labels, corks, capsules, barrels, fruit, etc. the hard costs are no more than $15 a bottle.'

As en primeurs approach, the financial state of Bordeaux and its key markets becomes more and more interesting.

I was clearing up my wine folders today, and came across some interesting stats for the US wine market (from WJ Deutsch importers).
In 2006, consumption rose for the 13th consecutive year, imported wines up 4.2%, accounting for 27.4% of the total US wine market.
French wines share of imports went up to 15.1% in 2006 (was 13.6% in 2005)

Hottest imported variety is Sauvignon Blanc (rose over 30% frm the year before)

Hottest imported red variety is Pinot Noir (rose over 45%). Cabernet imports continued to rise, up 5.3% (while merlot lost market share)
Highest price wines are rising the fastest (up nearly 11% for super premium over $10 and over 17% for ultra premium, over $14.
From 1996 to 2006, French category share decreased from 26.2^ to 15.1% in 2006.

Bordeaux grew by 17% from 2005 to 2006, but performance very dependent on vintage quality. Currently French category growth is at over $10, which is good for Bordeaux, but with the dollar doing so badly against the euro, it seems likely that there will be a very low turnout of US merchants when the en primeur begins in a few weeks.

I've been chasing a story for two days, which was first referred to cryptically on Jean Luc Thunevin's blog a few weeks ago (see my favourite blogs for the link), namely that Russians have finally managed to buy in Saint Emilion. And I have since found out he was talking about not just a small chateau, as the Chinese did last month, but a grand cru classe, very prestigious name.

The problem is getting anyone to talk on the record... so it remains a tantalising good story that I can't quite write about yet... but will keep you posted...!

Firstly, a very good roundup from Robert Joseph in today's Guardian on what will happen to grape varieties in the wake of global warming... (( didnt see him in Barcelona, but unless this has been ghost written, it seems like he was there) http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/drink/story/0,,2261841,00.html

But back in Bordeaux, more behind-the-scenes machinations, this time in the small world of Bordeaux sweet wines.

There are only a few sweet wine appellations in Bordeaux - Sauternes being, of course the most famous, but there's also Barsac, Cadillac, Côtes de Bordeaux-Saint-Macaire, Graves Supérieurs, Cérons, Sainte-Croix-du-Mont, Loupiac.

But apparently beng small in number hasn't led to a sense of solidarity - I was told recently by Nathalia Lescellier at Chateau Perayne (in Saint Macaire) that Sauternes is asking for Saint Macaire to be excluded from the Syndicate of Golden Wines of BOrdeaux. They applied to INAO, lodging an application in December, apparently disgruntled that its quality isn't sufficient to be judged alongside the likes of Sauternes.

Nathalia said, 'We might not be as well known as Sauternes, but we have a different, lighter style that many people like. It's fresher, less sticky, and for many it's a more modern style of dessert wine.'

The wines of Saint Macaire don't have to be 100% botrytised (from noble rot grapes), but that's not apparently a reason given by its more famous sister. It is more to do with the fact that they are geographically distinct from the rest of the wines.

Unfortunately their response to this has been somewhat muted, preferring apparently to hide that this is even happening, when surely the little known Saint Macaire has just been handed a fantastic 'Save our sweet wines' marketing opportunity???

As the new system of granting appellation-approval (the Agrement) approaches in July 2008, with the change from AOC Syndicates to ODG (Organisme de Defense et de Gestion), the Bordeaux Superieur syndicate is thinking of using the change as a good time to retire their original name and replacing it with Bordeaux Ier Cru.

It’s a proposition only at this stage, but has been voted in by the members of the Bordeaux Syndicate, led by president Bernard Fargues, and been submitted to INAO for ratification. The syndicate's Michelle Vernoux told me, ‘The idea needs to be studied in detail, and INAO will look at the potential benefits and issues. It is not likely to be finalised for the 2008 vintage, but perhaps the 2009’.

I canvassed a few local friends:
Anne Francoise Quie, of second growth Chateau Rauzan Gassies in Margaux, made the very good point, ‘This may be confusing for the consumer – to have the very top quality wines of Bordeaux known as the premier crus, and then also a more generic quality level with the same name.’

Aymeric Fournier, press director for the Despagne Family, who own several properties in Bordeaux and Bordeaux Superieur, commented, ‘If only a selected number of the current Bordeaux Superieur can qualify for the new grading, that it can work. But if it is an automatic right to switch from one to the other, it will be meaningless.’

This will not affect the generic Bordeaux appellation, just that of Bordeaux Superieur. Currently the difference between the two is largely in methods of viticulture, detailing such things as permitted yields and allowed alcohol levels.

Seems to me to be a highly confusing move, and more moving of furniture on the decks of the Titanic... they need to relook at the Bdx/Bdx Sup appellations at grass roots level, and work out how to make their quality better across the board.