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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 & Etiquette has evolved from an English-language blog devoted to French culture and wine into a media platform exploring cultural intelligence through wine.

It is complemented by an advisory practice that helps professionals working in France or with France — as well as Francophiles seeking a deeper, more instinctive fluency in French culture — master its codes and navigate cross-cultural situations with confidence

Learn more about us →

The Latest

Latest
Beaujolais: The Premier Cru Gamble
Feature
Beaujolais: The Premier Cru Gamble
Feature

Beaujolais built its name on the wine you don't keep. In 2023, estates in Fleurie asked the INAO for rank — for crus that age five to thirty years.

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Feature
Provence Rosé: Anatomy of an Icon (and What It Says About Us)
Feature
Provence Rosé: Anatomy of an Icon (and What It Says About Us)
Feature

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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Feature
Why Paris Is Still the Food Capital of the World
Interview
Why Paris Is Still the Food Capital of the World
Interview

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 the enduring power of French food culture and French cuisine culture.

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Interview
The Epistemology of a Great Bottle
Essay
The Epistemology of a Great Bottle
Essay

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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Essay
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. Now, the region is asking to be recognised for wines worth waiting for.

At the heart of that gamble is Château de Poncié, a thousand-year-old Fleurie estate, and two of its vineyards in contention for Beaujolais’s very first premier cru.

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The Advised Cellar

Latest
Pouilly-Fuissé AOC, Vincent Girardin, Vieilles Vignes, Les Champs-Lins
Pouilly-Fuissé AOC, Vincent Girardin, Vieilles Vignes, Les Champs-Lins

Discover the elegant Pouilly-Fuissé by Vincent Girardin, Vieilles Vignes, Les Champs-Lins. A refined Chardonnay from Burgundy’s Mâconnais terroir, offering fresh citrus notes, floral aromas, and a mineral finish.

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Condrieu AOC, Yves Cuilleron, La Petite Côte
Condrieu AOC, Yves Cuilleron, La Petite Côte

Discover “La Petite Côte” 2023 by Yves Cuilleron, a refined Condrieu AOC white wine crafted from 100% Viognier. Elegant, aromatic, and unforgettable, it's a sensory journey through the northern Rhône Valley.

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Sauternes AOC, Clos Dady
Sauternes AOC, Clos Dady

Clos Dady Sauternes AOC 2016: an opulent botrytised sweet white from Bordeaux — honeyed tasting notes, food pairings and cellaring potential reviewed.

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Maury AOC, Mas Amiel
Maury AOC, Mas Amiel

Mas Amiel Vintage Grenat, Maury AOC: a youthful Grenache Vin Doux Naturel from Roussillon — cocoa-and-black-fruit tasting notes, chocolate pairings and serving tips.

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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.

The Magazine

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

In a boardroom, what truly gets decided is rarely said aloud. Power speaks in subtler ways: in the wine poured, the pause held just a beat too long, the restaurant 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 Reader Favorites

Latest
The Bottle as a Diplomat: How French Wine Quietly Shapes World Power
Analysis
The Bottle as a Diplomat: How French Wine Quietly Shapes World Power
Analysis

From state banquets to trade tables, French wine has long been an instrument of soft power. How the bottle became a quiet ambassador — and what it still signals today.

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Analysis
French Business Culture: Hierarchy, Formality and the Codes of Professional Life
Feature
French Business Culture: Hierarchy, Formality and the Codes of Professional Life
Feature

Hierarchy, tu vs vous, email etiquette, meetings — the codes of French business etiquette and business protocol in France, and what really builds trust. A cultural intelligence guide on how to navigate French workplace culture with confidence.

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Feature
How to Choose and Gift French Wine
Analysis
How to Choose and Gift French Wine
Analysis

Choosing a wine as a gift is never neutral: it reveals taste, knowledge and intent. From a wine’s gift potential to the subtleties of selecting the right bottle, discover what makes a French wine an appropriate gift in both professional and private settings — and what it communicates beyond the bottle.

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Analysis
French Table Manners: The Social Codes Behind Every Gesture
Feature
French Table Manners: The Social Codes Behind Every Gesture
Feature

From Louis XIV to the business lunch: how French table manners and dining etiquette still encode power, status and belonging — and what every gesture really signals.

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Feature