Crus Bourgeois du Médoc reveals final Official Selection

By Mathew Lyons

Published: 27 September, 2019

The Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc has announced its last Official Selection of Crus Bourgeois wines, made from the 2017 vintage.

From the 2018 vintage, a new system of assessment will be introduced. Chateaux will be assessed every five years on a range of criteria, building on those used in the Official Selection process. These will include wine quality and vineyard management, but will also extend to sustainable practices and consumer-facing commitment.

As part of the new system, the three-tier rankings of Cru Bourgeois, Cru Bourgeois Supérieur and Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel will be re-introduced.

The assessment process will continue to be managed by the Bureau Veritas, an independent verification body. Its first five-year list will be announced in February 2020.

Speaking yesterday at the launch of the Official Selection, Olivier Cuvelier, president of the Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc, said: “Today is an important occasion for the Crus Bourgeois du Médoc, as we present our final annual Official Selection with the 2017 vintage.

“I would like to thank the UK wine trade, press and consumers for their fantastic support for Cru Bourgeois wines over the last 10 years, and I am looking forward to developing our message even further now as we move ahead with the new five-year tiered system.”

The Official Selection for 2017 comprises 226 wines representing some 19 million bottles of wine. It equates to around 23% of production in the Médoc.

The 2017 is described as a very good vintage, producing fruity wines with lots of freshness and generous tannins. The low volume of the selection – down from 33 million bottles in 2016 – is the result of unusually severe frosts in the region in late spring which cost many producers some or all of their harvest.

There are eight AOCs in the Médoc: Médoc, Haut-Médoc, Listrac-Médoc, Moulis, Margaux, Saint Julien, Pauillac and Saint Estèphe.

It is hoped that the clearer three-tiered hierarchy of the new system will attract more ultra-premium producers in the region to join the alliance and use the Crus Bourgeois authentication labelling.

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