Twenty seventeen was said to be a good year for Crus Bourgeois, producing fruity wines with lots of freshness and generous tannins, but with low quantities due to adverse weather conditions in late spring. 

There are 226 Crus Bourgeois making up the new 2017 Official Selection, representing 19m bottles, which is approximately 23% of the Médoc’s production. 

This is the 10th and last vintage to undergo the single-tier annual Official Selection assessment. From the 2018 vintage, chateaux will be assessed every five years and the hierarchical levels of Cru Bourgeois, Cru Bourgeois Supérieur and Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel will be re-introduced.

The first announcement of the new five-year list of Cru Bourgeois, Cru Bourgeois Supérieur and Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel will be in February 2020. 

“Today is an important occasion for the Crus Bourgeois du Médoc, as we present our final annual Official Selection with the 2017 vintage,” said Cuvelier.

“I would like to thank the UK wine trade, press and consumers for their fantastic support for Cru Bourgeois wines over the last 10 years, and I am looking forward to developing our message even further now as we move ahead with the new five-year tiered system.”

The principles by which the list will be compiled are based on the current Official Selection system, which is independent and supervised by a verification body, with additions for the higher levels. 

The key factors are wine quality, vineyard management, respect for the environment, quality control, marketing, commitment to consumers and traceability. Authentication will continue to be via the Cru Bourgeois sticker on every bottle.