CRU BOURGEOIS NEW QUALIFICATION
By SUZANNE MUSTACICH
It’s taken nearly 80 years, but the Cru Bourgeois winegrowers of the Médoc have finally sorted themselves out. Last Thursday, the Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc announced a new era of transparency and the qualification process that will grant winegrowers the right to label their wine “Cru Bourgeois.” The new qualification begins with the 2008 vintage.
First of all, let’s be clear. This is NOT a classification. A classification typically grants a wine estate a certain ranking, and it’s assumed that the wine estate will continue to produce wines of the same quality. The “Recognition Cru Bourgeois” project will test each new vintage and attest to the quality of that vintage only. A wine may well receive the recognition one year and not the next. (suite…)