A first assessment of the 2020 classification of crus bourgeois: what is the interest of these wines for the amateur, in a context where the brand and the digital reputation increasingly compete with the notion of classification?
It is a “family” of emblematic wines in Bordeaux: the crus bourgeois of the Médoc. Their “new” ranking dates from 2020. It recognizes, until 2025, 249 properties from eight appellations (Médoc, Haut-Médoc, Saint-Estèphe, Pauillac, Saint-Julien, Moulis-en-Médoc, Listrac-Médoc and Margaux). Established for the 2018-2022 vintages, this classification distinguishes three levels: “exceptional”, “superior” and simple. But what is the interest for the amateur, in a context where the brand and the reputation, especially digital, compete with the notion of classification? First assessment with Armelle Cruse, Vice-President of the Alliance des Crus Bourgeois: “It’s a way of differentiating the offer for consumers”.
Armelle Cruse, on the disputes over the 2020 classification of crus bourgeois: “When there is a classification, there are always happy and unhappy people”…
Claude Petit/SOUTH WEST
In this new episode of the “Four seasons of wine” (Season 4, episode 9 of the “wine-wine podcast” of Sud Ouest), journalists Mathieu Hervé and César Compadre welcome Armelle Cruse, manager & co-owner of Château du Taillan for more than twenty year. 2020 rankings and future 2025 rankings, prices, quality, recent transactions, certifications, selection criteria, valuation, terroir: Armelle Cruse deciphers the identity and “potential” of Médoc crus bourgeois, wines that represent an annual production average of thirty million bottles. Asked about top-of-the-range wines, classified from 1855 in the Médoc or the right bank (notably Saint-Emilion), Armelle Cruse also notes that: “Classified growths do not have the same philosophy as crus bourgeois”…