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St.-Emilion Wines Allowed Into U.S.

U.S. agency will inspect labels from Bordeaux châteaus demoted by government decision

Diana Macle and Mitch Frank

Posted: Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The U.S Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is no longer withholding approval for St.-Emilion wines coming into the country. But it is subjecting wines from eight châteaus to extra scrutiny.

Officials at the federal agency, which oversees alcohol labeling and taxes and must approve the labels of all imported wines, revealed earlier this month that the bureau was withholding approval for new labels—including previously imported wines with a new vintage on the label—for all wines from Montepulciano and St.-Emilion.

In June, the TTB sent letters to both the Italian and French embassies asking for more information on recent controversies in those two appellations. The controversies stem from two very different legal squabbles. Italy's financial police are currently investigating Vino Nobile di Montepulciano producers for allegedly using grapes from southern Italy in their wines.

In St.-Emilion, the dispute is over the appellation's classification system. Last month a Bordeaux court struck down the 2006 classification of Grand Cru Classé and Premier Cru Classé properties, ruling that the rating process was biased. (St.-Emilion's wine industry reclassifies its top producers every 10 years.) A week later, the French senate temporarily restored the 1996 classification until a new ranking can be conducted, but eight châteaus promoted in 2006 are objecting, leaving producers unclear about what ranking to put on their labels.

According to a TTB spokesman, the French government recently sent a letter explaining the St.-Emilion issue and a list of the eight châteaus who can no longer list their rankings on the soon to be released 2006 wines. The TTB will now inspect those wines' labels when they are submitted for approval to ensure the rankings are not there.

The owners of the eight affected châteaus in St.-Emilion were not pleased with the decision , but most of the anger was focused on the French legal and bureaucratic tangle rather than the American government. "What has happened is immoral and unfair," said Christian Dauriac, owner of Château Destieux, one of the estates left in the lurch. "The good producers have been penalized in favor of the bad ones, who have egotistically tarnished the image of St.-Emilion. It's going to be hard to repair the damage."

Dauriac said that Destieux's 2006 wines were sold en primeur but have not been labeled or shipped yet.

Alain Moueix, president of the St.-Emilion Grand Cru Classé Association saw little hope of resolving the issue soon. "I can't as yet say what action will be taken to find a compromise. A new classification needs to be established, but if the châteaus promoted in 2006 are left on the sidelines in the meantime, more legal wrangling will most certainly ensue, making it difficult for us to move forward.

"Everyone agrees that these châteaus deserved to be promoted, a solution needs to be found to allow for a cohabitation between 2006 and 1996," Moueix added.

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