The Jurisdiction of Saint-Émilion is unusual in that, since 1984, it has had two Appellations d'Origine Controlées (AoC) each covering exactly the whole of the geographic area of the Jurisdiction: Appellation d'Origine Controlée Saint-Émilion and Appellation d'Origine Controlée Saint-Émilion Grand Cru.
The AoC Grand Cru is also unusual in that the Appellation is not given to the terroir or the estate where grapes are grown but has to be earned by the wine - and earned each year.
Subject to minimum density of vines, maximum permitted yields and minimum initial alcohol levels, any wine made from the approved varietals (merlot, cabernet franc or bouchet, cabernet sauvingnon, malbec and carmenère) grown in the Jurisdiction is entitled to the Appellation d'Origine Controlée Saint-Émilion.
Again subject to the relevant minimum density of vines, maximum permitted yields and minimum initial alcohol levels, if a grower thinks the wine sufficiently good, he or she may submit it to a tasting in the year after it was made for a certificate that it has the capacity to age.
If that is granted, the wine may be again submitted for further tasting in the following year and, if approved, that wine of that vintage will be allowed to bear the higher Appellation of Grand Cru, subject to an obligation for it to be bottled at the Château.
Amongst all the AoCs in France, only that of Saint-Émilion Grand Cru requires such dual tasting.
The result of this system is that there is no fixed list of Grand Crus Châteaux – buyers need only to consult the bottle, not a book, to see which Appellation the wine enjoys and to know that its quality is specific to that vintage!
It is, however, also well worth bearing in mind that some wine which would qualify as Grand Cru is not submitted for that Appellation because the grower does not wish to sell his wine as such. There is a number of examples of growers making two wines but not wishing both to be in the same category where they would compete against each other – there lie even better bargains for the consumer!
Equally there are wines grown in, but made outside, the Jurisdiction, or not bottled at the château, which do not qualify to be submitted for the Grand Cru Appellation but which are in every other way similar to those which do.
Click here to see details of the Classification system