I am going to discuss two more wines that I tried at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan. I say “tricky rules,” because it sounds like the two wines should be on either side of the river in Bordeaux, but both wineries are in the Saint-Emilion district, but they each carry a different designation for the wine on their label.
The first wine is Chateau Tour du Pas Saint-Georges-Saint-Emilion 2010. Here is a wine that is sixty percent Merlot, thirty-five percent Cabernet Franc and five percent Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine was aged for fifteen months in French Oak, of which thirty percent was new. I found this wine to have a nice color, with a lot of spice and a fine finish. I have always had a certain fondness for wines from Saint-Emilion, and this wine carries the Saint-Georges addition, which is the smallest sub-district of the area and according to the rules, it could either use Saint-Georges-Saint-Emilion or Montagne-Saint-Emilion, which I just find curious.
The other wine that I tasted immediately after is from a winery also situated in Saint-Emilion. The Chateau Grand Francais Grand Cuvee Bordeaux Supereiur 2015. This a third generation, eight-hectare estate that is organic. The wine is fifty percent Merlot, thirty percent Cabernet Sauvignon and twenty percent Cabernet Franc and all the vines average about forty years. The wines were aged from ten to fourteen months in new and older French Oak barrels. This wine had good color, an excellent nose and a nice finish for a new wine that was poured directly from the bottle using the Coravin system, and I think this wine will be very nice in about five to ten years. I am not that knowledgeable to state why each of these wines took the designations that they did, and perhaps someone smarter and more versed in the wine laws can enlighten me.
The Wine Raconteur 
Hi John,
According French rules, some appellations require for instance a certain minimum age for the vines, and or a maximum yield per hectare, and or a minimum ageing in barrell and, of course, place of origin of the vines (any combination of these criteria; not all denominations have criteria in each category). If any of the criteria is not met the wine may not be named according to the appellation in which it was produced but has to name itself according to the larger regional name to which it does comply. Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur must be made from grapes coming from the same area but the Supérieur has a minimum requirement in terms of ageing that the “simple” Bordeaux does not have. The other appelations have very strict rules in several if not all categories. I didn’t understand your comment about the Montagne and Saint Georges appellations because they are distinct. I don’t think a wine can be either or. Just test how good your french is at: http://avis-vin.lefigaro.fr 🙂
Philippe, thank you for wonderful notes. My French is not that good, but I do get lost sometimes in the rules and I think some of them may have been amended since I first began learning about wines, when the Common Market came into being. I doff my hat to your knowledge and thank you once again. – John