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PREMIUM

Cru bourgeois and the new order

Panos Kakaviatos looks at plans for the return to a tiered system in 2020 and discovers why opinions are still divided today in Bordeaux.

This article was first published in a free Bordeaux 2018 supplement alongside Decanter magazine's July issue of the same year. It is now available online to Premium subscribers, with the cru bourgeois 'class of 2016' being named this week, .

For more than 10 years, Bordeaux’s cru bourgeois classification had been left without a ranking.

The last attempt to divide the category into three qualitative levels – back in 2003 – lasted four short years.

Earlier this year, however, French authorities approved specifications and a verification procedure for a new Crus Bourgeois du Médoc classification. The reaction so far has been mixed.


Panos Kakaviatos is a freelance wine writer, educator, tour guide and judge


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