First medals cancelled
for the first French wine competition
The procedure is unprecedented for the venerable Concours Général Agricole: self-proclaimed “best Pécharmant”, Château de Corbiac has just had the results of the 2014 awards snubbed.
“The result of the 123rd Concours Général Agricole des vins de Pécharmant, published on February 22, 2014, was taken following an irregular procedure and must be annulled” rules the Bordeaux Administrative Court, in a ruling handed down on November 30. This is a first for the venerable CGA, which has never experienced such an affront in its 146-year history. The victory is all the sweeter for Château de Corbiac, which challenged the prize list.
“Justice proves that our chances of winning a medal were not guaranteed,” exults Antoine de Corbiac, owner of the estate. “There are rules, you have to apply them,” adds his mother, Thérèse Durand de Corbiac. In their attack on the Ministry of Agriculture competition, the plaintiffs question the impartiality of the jury that carried out the regional preselection of the Pécharmant appellation in 2014. This stage rejected their two samples entered at the end of 2013, which were therefore unable to compete in the Paris finals (held every year at the end of February, at the opening of the Salon de l’Agriculture).
Contentious jury
Following the Ministry of Agriculture’s rejection of their request for an ex gratia appeal to organize a new competition, the de Corbiac family took their case to the administrative courts in 2014. Denouncing irregularities in the constitution of the six-member Pécharmant jury. More specifically, the presence of two winegrowers and a consultant oenologist from the appellation around the table. To the tune of “The procedure was based on article 147 of the CGA* regulations, which states that “No one may serve as a member of the jury [if he or she is] required to examine his or her own products or those of competitors with whom he or she has a professional or family relationship”. An argument that hit the nail on the head with the courts.
We do everything we can to make sure there’s an arm’s length relationship”.
“This decision puts the spotlight on the pre-selection stage, but beyond that, there’s ongoing work to provide assurances of independence by every possible means, from sampling at the producer’s premises to marketing, even for export,” defends Benoît Tarche, the CGA’s general commissioner, who points out that this is France’s biggest wine tasting competition (with 3,600 jurors for 17,000 samples, including 8,600 tasted in Paris last year).
Best Pécharmant
The legal services of the Ministry of Agriculture have two months to consider the possibility of an appeal. If they fail to do so, Château de Corbiac will request that an appeal be lodged. For Antoine de Corbiac, the “hole” appears in the prize lists of all Pécharmant estates for the 2014 CGA. A way for Antoine de Corbiac to bring all his neighbors up to his level, as he prides himself on winning medals every year at the CGA. While the Périgord winemaker had the nerve to be the first to attack the Ministry of Agriculture over his competition, he also had the audacity to award himself the title of “Best Wine of the Year”. “best Pécharmant.
Based on his CGA and Guide Hachette awards. This boldness earned him a visit from the fraud control authorities, who had never been aware of such a comparison in the French wine industry. As procedural as ever, he was able to use the law of January 18, 1992, to demonstrate that what he was saying was right. “loyal and truthful”, based on indisputable medals.
“Despite this action, he maintains his participation”
To complete his list of successes, and his sales pitch, Antoine de Corbiac logically plans to present his wines at the Paris competition in 2017. “At least Château de Corbiac still has confidence in the CGA,” notes Benoît Tarche. He reminds us that the event represents a key marketing element for French vineyards. “The problem with this case is that a certain casualness in competition practices could cast opprobrium on the whole thing,” warns Antoine de Corbiac.
*: The legal action is also based on article 9 of the arrêté;té of February 13, 2013 setting the conditions for entry to French wine competitions, and stipulating in particular that. “The organizer of the competition shall take all necessary steps to guarantee the impartiality of all jury members”.
Echoes from the neighborhood At CGA, "tastings are carried out blind by professionals on forty or so anonymous samples". recalls winemaker Didier Roches, a member of the 2014 pre-selection jury and owner of Château Haut-Pécharmant, which received one of the three gold medals awarded in 2014. If he wasn't aware of the court ruling, he has no more 2014 medal-winning wines in stock anyway. A neighbor of Château de Corbiac, he takes the nuanced view that "They're all about medals. They claim to be the best, but they're indirectly talking about the appellation."
Alexandre Abellan, in www.vitisphere.com, Wednesday, December 14, 2016
