It is a particular pleasure for us to be here tonight, you might say "here at last", because it is the first time that Jurats have come to one of the Inns of Court in the 800 years since the Jurade's privileges and rights were confirmed to the Jurisdiction of Saint-Émilion by King John under the Charter of Falaise in 1199. During that time many of our wines must have passed through the doors of the Inns but never before have the Jurats visited - perhaps our wine travels better than our Jurats! Certainly a lot of wine came to London from the Jurisdiction from very early times. Your Kings valued it highly keeping it for special occasions and gifts when it was known as "Royal Wine" - I would, of course, say that shows their excellent taste! The City of Saint-Émilion and the Jurats enjoyed their ancient privileges as the civil power and the judges of Saint-Émilion, on terms which may be of interest to modern lawyers. I am told that such terms would now probably be very profitable for your profession and encourage all sorts of litigation and appeals to Human Rights laws. The 1312 renewal of the City's rights said in part:
"Let all who read these present letters patent know that we, the Jurats and hundred leading citizens and all the people of the town of Saint-Emilion acknowledge our gratitude and declare that, for certain good and legitimate reasons, we owe .... fifty tonneaux of clear, pure wine, legally filled, transported and delivered at our own charge to England and into the port of London before Easter in each year and, for the said delivery of the said fifty tonneaux, we pledge and charge our persons, our inheritance and our estates, goods and chattels, moveable and immoveable ...".
Those fifty tonneaux were a tiny part of the of the wine exported from our region - in 1306 to 1307, 100,000 tonneaux left Bordeaux for export, much of it to England, a tradition which, we believe has been good for both parties and which has continued at all times when our political masters have left us at peace with each other.
The roots of the Jurade therefore lie deep in both French and English history -as its Arms, Great Seal and banners, which bear both the Lilies of France and the Lions of England, show. The Jurisdiction still covers the same territorial area set in Edward I's time at the Treaty of Condat in 1289. Our robes date back to the time when the Jurats were judges both of men and wine and again show something of our historical link to the twelfth century judges - I understand some of your judges still wear scarlet and white robes. I will leave those amongst you, such as your distinguished Master of the Cellar and His Honour Judge Hone and others here tonight, who are qualified in modern times to judge both men and wine, to decide which is more enjoyable or satisfying! We are very happy with our current rôle!
Since 1792 the Jurats have ceased to judge people but their ancient concern with judging wines and with controlling quality and excellence in them continues in the Jurisdiction. It used to be undertaken by the Jurats who marked with their Seal the barrels which contained approved wine but condemned any wine which was not good enough - and broke and burned the barrels in which it was contained. We can therefore claim that just as we are the oldest wine confrérie, we are almost certainly the world's oldest consumer protection organisation. Now we believe that our classification system is the most modern and rigorous in France and therefore in the world. Unlike any other area, our growers apply for Grand Cru status on a yearly basis and submit their wines to two blind tastings. The Grand Crus Classés and Premiers Grand Crus Classés are submitted to re-classification every ten years, not only to gain promotion but to keep the status they gained at the previous classification. Just as the Jurade represents a long tradition in a modern world, so we have seen much of the new winemaking equipment and many of the new techniques, now used all over the world, first tried in the Jurisdiction.
We hope and believe, however, that the City and Jurisdiction form much more than just another commercial wine growing region, of which the world has many. One of our strengths is that it is not only the Jurade which has a long and proud history but also that many of our growers have family trees with roots deep in the soil of the Jurisdiction Together we make up the family of Saint-Émilion but, as any good family, we like to welcome visitors. The oath taken by the Jurats to new members and guests is to give to their guests their respect and brotherly affection, to open the doors of their homes to them and to provide succour in the defence of their lives, their goods and their honour. Whilst there is today much less need than once there might have been to offer physical protection, we do look forward to welcoming you to the Jurisdiction and sharing with you some of its blessings, both of wine and of friendship.
His Honour Judge Hone, Q.C: He first became interested in wine as a young man when he had a bottle which particularly excited him, from, of course, a certain small but ancient and historic City in France, and has developed his interest with dedication and enthusiasm since then. He says that hard work has never been so much pleasure as in this field - or more accurately, vineyard - of knowledge. As I understand members of and visitors to that Inn know to their great advantage, he is the Chairman of the Wine Committee at the Middle Temple as well as at Boodles. He makes frequent tasting trips to France and says that it is always a delight to come to the Jurisdiction both for its wine and the welcome which is given to him and other wine lovers. It gives us great pleasure to name him Vigneron d'Honneur and Bourgeois de Saint-Émilion.
Sir Robin Jacob will be well known to you all, not only as a Lord Justice of Appeal but also, of course, as Vice-Treasurer of this Honourable Society, in which capacity he represents our hosts tonight, for which we are most grateful. After reading Physics at Cambridge and Law at the London School of Economics, he was called to the Bar by this Society in 1967, became one of Her Majesty's Counsel in 1981 and a High Court Judge in 1993. He has wide interests outside his distinguished career - for example, he supports Arsenal, cycles and goes to the theatre. However, tonight, we honour him for a love and knowledge of wine which he has developed steadily since about 1968, building up a cellar of some fifteen hundred bottles, including, of course, many of the Jurisdiction's wines, which he has been enjoying for many years. As one of the world's leading experts in the law of intellectual property and patents, he is very well qualified to recognise the unique and original qualities of our wines and it gives us great pleasure to name him Vigneron d'Honneur and Bourgeois de Saint-Émilion