Saint-Emilion wines stay aggressive in Asia
The official festivities of the bi-annual VinExpo Asia Pacific Hong Kong normally commence with the staging of the most prestigious by-invitation-only Jurade de SaintEmilion Gala Dinner ( held since 2010) on the eve of the wine fair. I was one of the 600 attendees of this formal black-tie dinner organized by La Jurade de Saint-Emilion in partnership with the Commanderie de Bordeaux of Hong Kong. Jurade comes from the word jurat ( juror or affidavit) but in the context of Jurade de Saint-Emilion it roughly means “the gatekeeper” or “anointed authority” of the Saint-Emilion region.
This gala dinner was held for the fifth time at the Grand Hyatt Wanchai Hotel, right next to the Hong Kong Convention Centre where the VinExpo Asia Pacific was hosted.
THE JURADE DE SAINT-EMILION HISTORY
La Jurade de Saint-Emilion, the wine region’s brotherhood of wine, traces its history back to a royal charter issued in the early 12th century by John Lackland, King of England. The charter empowered the local notables, called the Jurades, with economic, political, and legal rights to Saint-Emilion. In exchange for these rights, England was granted the Privilege des Vins de SaintEmilion or the first priority to have access to the already much sought after wines of Saint-Emilion.
The Jurade played an important role in the region’s wine growing and its economic growth, including oversight of its fine wine production. Saint-Emilion is the oldest Bordeaux wine appellation (dating back to the ancient Romans), and was also the first Bordeaux appellation to be exported.
The Jurade’s authority lasted until the French Revolution of 1789. In 1948, the Jurade of Saint-Emilion was revived and it has stayed strong and relevant since then.
The Jurade still proclaims the Ban des Vendanges or vintage festival every September, aside from other wine related activities, and the Jurade continues to serve as the quality control authority against fraud and wine making violations in the region.
Since 2008 the Jurade also became involved with the promotion of the satellite Saint-Emilion appellations of Lussac SaintEmilion and Puisseguin Saint- Emilion. The Jurade de Saint Emilion is currently a much larger brotherhood composed of over 3,000 members, with around 130 Jurats (the Saint-Emilion core) and inductees from wine merchants, media personalities, celebrities etc. from all over the world — all playing the roles of brand ambassadors in promoting Saint-Emilion wines.
La Jurade de SaintEmilion, the wine region’s brotherhood of wine, traces its history back to the early 12th century.
INTERNATIONAL EXTENSION
The Jurade de Saint-Emilion has done an amazing job in propagating the reputation of Saint-Emilion wines all over the world. This has been done through the opening of chancelleries, or basically international chapters, in different countries outside of France, including the UK, USA, Malta, Hong Kong, China, and, just this year during the Jurade de Saint-Emilion Gala Dinner, Singapore and Malaysia.
The traditional induction ceremony this year (done before dinner) took quite long — over an hour before completion — starting from the parade of the Jurats wearing the traditional red ropes with white trims, to the speeches, the introduction of each of the 40 new inductees, and the actual oath-taking. Since this was for VinExpo Asia-Pacific, all inductees were, not surprisingly, from Asia, with the majority coming from mainland China. China is already among the top three import markets of Saint-Emilion wines, and could potentially be its largest importer in just a few years to come. It was nice, too, for Southeast Asia to have its own Jurade chancelleries with the addition of branches in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
Saint-Emilion wines have really come a long way against the more popular Medoc wines. Chateau Cheval Blanc has always been one of the most recognized wines of all time, but now we can also hear the wines of Chateau Ausone, Chateau Pavie, Chateau Angelus, Chateau Figeac, among others mentioned in the same breath as Chateau Lafite, Chateau Latour, Chateau Margaux, Chateau Haut-Brion, Chateau Mounton-Rothschild and its right bank counterparts.
THE 2018 GALA DINNER SELECTION
The five-course sit-down menu was really exceptional, with each of the first four courses paired with two Saint-Emilion Grand Cru classe wines, in an all-red wine dinner affair.
We had a very auspicious first course to start the dinner proper, with dry aged Galician beef carpaccio, shaved foie gras, marinated fig and brioche croutons drizzled with black truffle dressing. This was followed by a duck confit tortellini soup, a lovely flavorful moist lamb loin, an artisanal selection of cheeses from the famous cheesemaking company Philippe Olivier, then a sweet dessert at the end.
The wines served were (in order of serving): Chateau Cadet Bon 2011, Chateau Destieux 2010, Chateau Laroze 2010, Chateau La Tour Figeac 2006, Chateau Grand Mayne 2005, Chateau Dessault 2000, Premier Grand Cru Classe B Chateau Troplong Mondot 2010, and another Grand Cru Classe B Chateau Valandraud 2011.
As a bonus, we had two extras, namely a Chateau Fleur Cardinale 2013 magnum (courtesy of owner Ludovic Decoster), and the superb Chateau Figeac 2009 magnum (courtesy of Yann Schyler of negociant Schroder & Schyler). The eight featured wines were all great, but the two wines for me that came out really well ( excluding the bonus Chateau Figeac 2009) were: the Chateau Grand Mayne 2005 which had an alluring nose of mocha, fresh blueberries, good complexity, and which was very silky and juicy all the way to the finish; and Chateau La Tour Figeac 2006, which had the nose of violets, figs, and supple tannins to