2008 Cru Bourgeois listings launched

Published: 24 September, 2010

The long awaited and re-invented Cru Bourgeois system has been unveiled that will allow châteaux in Médoc to use the term "Cru Bourgeois" for the 2008 harvest.

The Reconnaissance de Cru Bourgeois awards will take place annually following a blind tasting 18 months after the vintage and before bottling.

It comes amid previous controversy over quality when the 2003 revision of the classification was annuled by the French government in 2007, resulting in a ban of the use of the term.

The re-invented system will promote an average benchmark dependent on vintage quality.

The wines are decided by a tasting panel made up of wine professionals and which excludes château owners.

The 2008 vintage is the first to be released under the new system created by the Alliance des Cru Bourgeois and under the presidency of Thierry Gardinier of Château Phélan-Ségur

Gardinier has now regigned to make way for the new president Frederic de Luze of Chateau Paveil de Luze in Margaux.

He said it had been his mission to finish the building of the new system - but he couldn't stay in a system that his own château, Phelan Segur could not be part of.

All châteaux will be classed together, there are no Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnnels or Superieurs.

290 wines applied for the Cru Bourgeois and 243 were recognised.

For the official 2008 selection visit http://www.crus-bourgeois.com/

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