A wine that deserves its premier grand cru standing

Chateau Beau-Sejour Bcot from Bordeaux's right bank in St Emilion was classified as a premier grand cru until 1985 when it was controversially demoted to grand cru status.

The INAO, the French institution that regulates French agricultural products, returned that status in 1996, and since then the wines have continued to receive accolades.

This month Decanter magazine in the United Kingdom published its list of the 50 best-value French wines, based on results from 1,242 wines submitted for panel tastings in the past year. The 2006 and the 2004 vintages of Chateau Beau-Sejour Becot topped that list.