You read the room
Just not this one

Two men sit at a table in a restaurant, surrounded by bottles of wine and glassware, with a chalkboard menu in the background. The man on the left has dark hair and a beard, wearing a patterned shirt, while the man on the right has glasses and blonde hair, wearing a polo shirt. There are other people and a staff member in the background.
Meet the Estate

Château de Poncié:
A Thousand Years,
One Claim to Rank

Beaujolais made its name on the wine you do not keep, drunk in November, forgotten by year's end. The region is now asking recognition for the wines worth waiting for. At the heart of the gamble: Château de Poncié, a thousand-year-old Fleurie estate, and two of its vineyards in the running for Beaujolais's very first premier cru. A lunch with the people behind it, where every glass was a compelling argument.

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Beaujolais: The Premier Cru Gamble
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Beaujolais has no premier cru. In 2023 Fleurie asked the INAO to classify seven — two at Château de Poncié. Inside a region reaching for rank.

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Provence Rosé: Anatomy of an Icon (and What It Says About Us)
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More than a summer wine: how pale Provence rosé became a cultural icon. A complete guide to its history, styles, grapes, food pairings and prices.

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Why Paris Is Still the Food Capital of the World
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French cuisine is no longer the world’s best — so why is Paris still the food capital of the world? Food historian Loïc Bienassis explains.

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The Epistemology of a Great Bottle
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The Epistemology of a Great Bottle
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The 1855 Classification was not a quality ranking — it was a power move. What truly makes a wine great? A philosophical analysis of how wine value is built, legitimised, and contested.

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An abstract painting with colorful figures and faces, featuring a man in a suit and bowtie at the bottom center, surrounded by swirling colors and shapes.

Magazine

Issue 01 is out
cover of issue 01, the gce review, the art of deliberate choice

In a boardroom, what is truly decided is almost never said aloud. Power speaks softly — in the wine that’s poured, the pause held a beat too long, the restaurant that’s chosen.

Read the Table, Then the Wine
The Chinese Business Meal
The Map Changes. The Logic Never Does.
Between the Words
Jean Monnet: Authority Without a Mandate
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The Eye Behind GC&E

“Wine is never just wine: it is a language, a system of hierarchical, diplomatic and economic codes.”

Founded in January 2025 by Maria Kumessa, Grand Cru and Etiquette has evolved from an English-language blog dedicated to French culture and wine into a media platform comprising The Journal and The GC&E Review (a digital and print quarterly), specialising in cultural intelligence and wine.
It is complemented by an advisory practice designed to help professionals working in France, or with France — as well as Francophiles seeking quiet cultural fluency — master its codes and navigate cross-cultural situations with confidence.

Paris_Society_1931_Max_ Beckmann
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Max Beckmann “Paris Society” 1931.