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The most controversial and talked about news in this region...
The 2006 classification in St Emilion has been fraught with controversy since it was announced. Following a protracted legal battle, involving various chateaux who have vested interests, the current situation is that the French Court of Appeal has ruled the 2006 classification will be scrapped. The classifications will stand for the 2009 vintage but thereafter, a new system will need to be introduced.
The Syndicat Viticole who had created the famous 1855 classification for the left bank, did not consider creating a classification for St Emilion until almost a century had passed, infact it was published exactly one hundred years after the classifications of the Medoc and Sauternes.
The system laid out two broad categories, the upper tier being Premier Grand Cru Classe (which is further subdivided into the higher ranking A and lesser B categories) and the lower being grand cru classe. The classification they devised would depend on submitted requests for inclusion, rather than the system in 1855 where properties were ranked by local merchants, and the ranking would be based on a tasting of ten vintages from the estate in question rather than purely value on the market, which was the key factor one hundred years previously.
Crucially, it would be open to reassessment every ten years or so, setting it apart from the seemingly immutable 1855 classifications.
The first of this classification was published on the 16th June 1955, starting with 12 properties ranked as Premier Grand Cru and 63 Grand Cru Classe. Then revised in 1969, 1986, and 1996, when this second group had been lowered to 55 entries. The most recent revision however has seen the number at the top swell to 15 and the lower decrease even further to 46:
| St-Emilion Premiers Grands Crus Classes (Class A) |
|---|
| Chateau Ausone Chateau Cheval-Blanc |
| St-Emilion Premiers Grands Crus Classes (Class B) |
|---|
| Chateau Angelus Chateau Beau-Sejour Becot Chateau Beausejour (Duffau-Lagrrosse) Chateau Belair Chateau Canon Chateau Figeac Clos Fourtet Chateau La Graffeliere Chateau Magdelaine Chateau Pavie Chateau Pavie-Macquin Chateau Troplong-Mondot Chateau Trottevielle |
| St Emilion Grands Crus Classes |
|---|
| Chateau L'Arrosée Chateau Balestard-La-Tonnelle Chateau Bellefont-Belcier ^ Chateau Bellevue Chateau Bergat Chateau Berliquet Chateau Cadet-Bon Chateau Cadet-Piola Chateau Canon-la-Gaffelière Chateau Cap-de-Mourlin Chateau Chauvin Chateau La Clotte Chateau Corbin Chateau Corbin-Michotte Chateau La Couspaude Couvent des Jacobins Chateau Dassault Chateau Destieux ^ Chateau La Dominique Chateau Faurie-de-Souchard Chateau Fleur-Cardinale ^ Chateau Fonplégade Chateau Fonroque Chateau Franc-Mayne Chateau Grand-Corbin ^ Chateau Grand-Corbin-Despagne ^ Chateau Grand-Mayne Chateau Grand-Pontet Chateau Les Grandes-Murailles Chateau Guadet St-Julien Chateau Haut-Corbin Chateau Haut Sarpe Clos des Jacobins Chateau Laniote Chateau Larcis-Ducasse Chateau Larmande Chateau Laroque Chateau Laroze Chateau La Marzelle Chateau Matras Chateau Monbousquet ^ Chateau Moulin-du-Cadet Clos de l'Oratoire Chateau Pavie-Decesse Chateau Petit-Faurie-de-Soutard Chateau Le Prieuré Chateau Ripeau Chateau St-Georges-Côte-Pavie Clos St-Martin Chateau La Serre Chateau Soutard Chateau Tertre-Daugay Chateau La Tour-du-Pin Chateau La Tour-du-Pin-Figeac (Moueix) Chateau La Tour Figeac Chateau Villemaurine Chateau Yon-Figeac |
Promotions from the 1996 classification are marked with ^