The first China chapter of the Jurade de Saint-Emilion — a region well-known for wines such as Angelus and Pavie, among many others, is slated for May 31 in Beijing. The project is headed by Nicolas Billot-Grima, who has more than 25 years of China wine experience, from Huadong in Shandong province in the 1980s to the Sino-French Demonstration Vineyard in Hebei province at the turn of the century to numerous projects today.

So, what is the Jurade de Saint-Emilion?

As guardians of the appellation’s reputation and renown, the Jurade de Saint-Emilion represents the wines of Saint Emilion all over the world. The Jurade is an official body which can trace its origins back to July 8th 1199, when King John of England signed the ‘Falaise Charter’. This ground-breaking decree gave the townsmen of Saint-Emilion extensive control over the legal, administrative and economic affairs of the town and, later on, over the surrounding lands falling under the Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion. The Jurats, as the members are known, were responsible for the town’s internal and external policies. In return for these new freedoms, the English crown was granted rights to the wines of Saint-Emilion.

(See here for more details.)

I’ll soon post more details on this event as well as photos from previous ones.

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