One of my favorite anecdotes about wine is
that the French wine industry advanced to its lofty world class status in large
part due to the British thirst for wine. The British are notorious for their
wine consumption and French winemakers across the English Channel enthusiastically
sought to quench their thirst for wine as early as the twelfth century. To what extent this trade with Britain actually
helped shape the French wine industry today, I am not certain. Nevertheless,
the logical connection between the British propensity for wine and French
winemakers willingness to satisfy this proclivity has always appealed to me. As
a result of my fondness for this narrative, I have repeated the story many
times as one explanation for how and why the French developed their famed wine
industry and their export mentality.
One of the key components to building
their reputation as a fine wine producing nation are the strict laws of AOC
(Appellation Origin Control) which govern the viticulture and viniculture of
each wine producing region. These laws also underpin what is referred to as
France’s export mentality. This is
where France’s early exporting of wine to England comes into play. In the early
stages of their wine industry French winemakers determined that in order to
protect the reputation of French wine from some unscrupulous winemakers they
would embrace a simple philosophy; when anyone buys a bottle of French wine
anywhere in the world they are assured of a unswerving level of quality and a
taste sensation that is indicative of its wine producing region. Hence a series
of rules and regulations were put in place over many years insuring the quality
of French wine. Such laws prevented some French winemakers from cutting corners
in favor of profits over quality which would have ultimately tarnished the
reputation of all French wine.
Knowing my keen interest in the connection
between French wine and the British, my friend and wine-muse Alex Nacar recently
emailed me links to articles regarding French wine and British Sommeliers published
in The Telegraph, a London newspaper.
From these articles I hoped to glimpse
into present-day British wine service, uncover some new wines to try and learn
from Sommeliers across the pond which French wines are currently in vogue in
England today. The articles were
entertaining with such snappy phrases as “wine waiter” for Sommelier and “off-piste”
for going astray and other unique phrases that only the British can get away
with. There was one point though that
just went against the grain; the term declassified Chateauneuf du Pape,
describing a Côte du Rhone. My immediate reaction was, no, not so! The mere phrase grated on my sensibilities as if
someone was running their fingernails across a blackboard. Not true! I muttered to no one. At that point I donned my deer stalker cap,
ala Sherlock Holmes and declared to the same invisible audience. “The game is afoot Watson!” My curiosity was
piqued. Have I been missing out on an
exceptional wine value from one of my favorite French wine producing regions, the
Rhone Valley, which is also the geographical home to both Cote du Rhone and
Chateauneuf du Pape? Or, was this just
another erroneous marketing term invented to help sell wine to an unsuspecting public?
The answer quickly revealed itself.
While searching the internet for a
definition of declassified Chateauneuf du
Pape I discovered other websites using the very same term describing
various Côte du Rhones. Here is an excerpt from one of the websites:
“This is a true
declassified Chateauneuf-du-Pape. For
definition’s sake, appellation contrôlée rules for wine in France maintain that
only a certain volume of wine can be produced each year with a specific
label. Any excess production must be
sold under a broader appellation (region/area) or as “declassified wine”,
therefore at a lower price. The quiet
understanding of “declassified” is that we are drinking wine that has been made
with the same care and expertise from the same area, as in this case the big
shot Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Bottom line
... with juice such as this you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck!”
This definition implies that a vineyard in
Chateauneuf du Pape can grow as many grapes as it cares to but is limited to
the amount of wine it can bottle under the label bearing the AOC of Chateauneuf
du Pape. This is simply not accurate! According to the Chateauneuf du
Pape website hosted by the Fédération des
syndicats des producteurs de Châteauneuf-du-Pape (see link below) a
vineyard is limited to the number of
vines it can plant per hectare (2.47acres) not how much wine it can bottle. This is perfectly logical and in keeping with
the rational for establishing AOC standards. In this particular instance,
limiting the amount of vines planted per hectare creates enough space for the vine’s
roots to spread out and prosper without competing for nature’s nutrients and
water from neighboring vines; thereby growing plump and juicy grapes. There is
no such limit on how much wine can be bottled under the label of Chateauneuf du
Pape. The restriction is how many vines can be planted per hectare. Contrary to what the sellers of “declassified Chateauneuf du Pape” would
have us believe, a wine producer in the appellation of Chateauneuf du Pape can
make and sell as much wine as they care to depending on how many hectares of
land they can plant.
There may very well be good reasons why a
vineyard in Chateauneuf du Paper would declassify
their wine as a Côte du Rhone but it is not because there is a limit to how
many bottles of Chateauneuf du Pape they can sell bearing that AOC designation. One answer may be that a particular vintage
does not live up to the high standards of grapes for wine from Chateauneuf du
Pape or since wine from Chateauneuf du Pape can consist of many different
grapes (up to thirteen) they may have an excess of one or more different grapes
varieties from a good vintage that can still be used to make wine under the
broader AOC of Côte du Rhone by using a different blend of grapes. Either reason makes perfect sense. Thus, by
declassifying the wine as Côte du Rhone, the vineyard owner is not tarnishing
the reputation of the Chateauneuf du Pape appellation with grapes from an inferior
vintage or, is now able to use the different leftover grapes from a good
vintage to make a Côte du Rhone. For the
consumer, these Côte du Rhones may be a perfectly good wine, even a very good wine,
just not worthy of bearing the label or the price tag of Chateauneuf du Pape.
There are many variables in deciding on
whether to purchase a very good Côte du Rhone or a more expensive bottle of Chateauneuf
du Pape. An erroneous definition of declassified
Chateauneuf du Pape only serves to muddy the waters for any wine
enthusiast.
Caveat emptor!
Except
from the Chateauneuf du Pape Website: The
vineyard is obliged to have a very low density of plantation: 3,000 to 3,500
vines per hectare. In the last century this was the distance required for the
horses to cross the vines. Nowadays it is a guarantee of quality because each
vine has enough space to flourish in the best conditions.
