Cru Bourgeois three-tier ranking system back in place
After years of struggle and false starts, Bordeaux’s Cru Bourgeois classification has successfully returned to a three-tier ranking system.
Split across the three levels, the 2020 ranking contains 249 châteaux, accounting for 31% of Médoc production and covering every one of its appellations except St-Julien.
Of these estates, 179 have Cru Bourgeois status, while 56 have achieved Cru Bourgeois Supérieur classification. Just 14 estates have been awarded the highest quality level, Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel.
For more than a decade, the Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc has judged vintages on an individual basis, but the 2020 ranking requires recognition of five vintages between 2008 and 2016.
To gain Supérieur and Exceptionnel status, an estate must submit a dossier outlining its terroir and practices, prior to a tasting and visits from an expert panel.
Châteaux are then assessed on sustainability, quality of viticulture and winemaking methods, as well as wine tourism and marketing.
The new ranking is intended to provide more clarity in the Médoc market by establishing price points in correlation to quality levels, rather than a single classification.
Olivier Cuvelier, president of the Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc and proprietor of newly ranked Exceptionnel Château Le Crock, said the 2020 ranking would bring ‘excitement and a sense of direction to all the châteaux’.