(Bordeaux) The famous château in the Bordeaux vineyard Angélus announced on Wednesday that it would withdraw its candidacy for the prestigious 2022 Saint-Émilion classification, nearly three months after its owner was condemned for illegal taking an interest in this same classification.
“From a source of progress, the classification has become a vector of antagonism and instability. […] Angelus takes note of this and leaves this system by withdrawing from the 2022 classification, ”indicates the famous castle in a press release.
During the last winners in 2012, Angélus was promoted to the “A” Premier Grand Cru at the top of the pyramid.
But at the end of October, at the end of a long procedure initiated by other châteaux in the appellation, its owner Hubert de Boüard was fined 60,000 euros for illegal taking an interest in this classification, found guilty of ” have been both judge and party by sitting on the wine committee of the INAO (National Institute of Origin and Quality), the entity responsible for the awards.
This sentence “was experienced as an unbearable injustice” and “completed” the decision to withdraw from the ranking, “under study for years”, explained to AFP the director of Angelus Stéphanie de Boüard-Rivoal , which denounces “an inability of collective bodies to defend this meritocratic system in the face of attacks”.
According to her, the Angélus brand “is strong enough” to do without the classification, which guarantees significant commercial, financial and media benefits for the award-winning châteaux.
For François Lévêque, a broker specializing in fine wines, this withdrawal should have little impact in terms of sales, because “the Angélus brand is very strong” and now “it is the market that makes the ranking”.
Created in 1955, this prestigious Saint-Émilion classification, which can be revised every ten years, is becoming more and more contested, in particular before the courts, for its selection criteria, accused of giving too much space to “secondary elements” (reputation, reception of the public…) to the detriment of the “fundamentals” (terroir, tasting…).
For these reasons, two historic heavyweights, the Ausone and Cheval-Blanc castles, had already announced during the summer that they would not apply for the next prize list.
Not yet published, the 2022 classification of Saint-Émilion has also been sued by two castles, Croix de Labrie and Tour Saint-Christophe, initially excluded from the selection.
According to an expert in image strategy in wine, these setbacks and the surprise withdrawal of Angelus, “may lead one to believe at the end of this classification in the long term” and reflect “the deleterious climate which reigns in Saint-Émilion”.
“It is no longer a classification, but a drunken boat, an abyssal bankruptcy of the INAO”, judged for his part Me Éric Morain, lawyer specializing in wine law, behind the conviction of M. de Boüard.
Contacted by AFP, the INAO did not wish to comment on Angelus’ withdrawal, while the Saint-Émilion Wine Council said it had “taken note of this decision, motivated by personal reasons”.
Founded at the end of XVIIIe century, Château Angélus operates 52 ha of vines out of the 5,400 ha of the Saint-Émilion grand cru appellation. It produces 90,000 bottles of fine wines each year for a turnover of around 18 million euros in 2021.