Backlash against Michelin Guide’s inaugural winery ratings
The Michelin Guide has introduced a ‘Grape Selection’ rating for wine estates, which has rolled out for Burgundy but is already facing some backlash.
94 estates have been recognised in the inaugural edition, which rates estates using a scale of one, two or three Michelin grapes, similar to its star system.
The criteria for the selection is based on the quality of agronomy, vineyard management, technical mastery in winemaking and long-term commitment to excellence, as well as the estate’s identity and consistency.
Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, Domaine Leroy, Domaine d’Auvenay, Roumier and Coche-Dury were among the nine estates awarded a Three Michelin Grapes rating, but it also includes less well-known names such as Domaine Cécile Tremblay, Domaine Jean-Marc & Thomas Bouley and Hubert Lamy. As Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guide, pointed out, rankings were intended to “evaluate wineries rather than simply reward famous vineyards”.
There were 20 estates named as Two Michelin Grapes and 33 as One Michelin Grape, while a further 32 were commended as ‘Selected Estates’.
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Poullennec said the selection reflected Burgundy’s heritage as well as the diversity of approaches now shaping the region – however it has already met with a backlash from producers.
However, there has already been some backlash among Burgundy’s famed estates.
Arnoux Lachaux in Vosne-Romanée, which received a One Grape rating, has formally requested that it be removed from the guide, saying that since 2020, it had “deliberately chosen not to submit our wines for press reviews or ratings”. Furthermore it did not know how the Domaine’s rating “could have been established as we have not received Michelin or presented wines to the press since the 2020 vintage.”
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