Cru Bourgeois

Following several legal turns, the 2003 Cru Bourgeois classification was annulled by the French court in 2007, and shortly afterwards all use of the term was banned.

[5] An example of longevity and stability in the quality of its wine is the Chateau Magnol, in the Haut Medoc appellation, that have been Cru Bourgeois every single year since 1987.

[3] There was considerable controversy regarding the 2003 classification as 77 châteaux which had been included in the 1932 list lost their Cru Bourgeois status.

[3][6] However, in February 2007, Bordeaux magistrate Jean-Pierre Valeins, having found that the classification was 'not impartial' and 'tainted with illegality', annulled the 2003 revision, following an appeal by dissatisfied producers, led by Denis Hecquet, president of the Médoc winegrowers' union.

[10] The Alliance des Crus Bourgeois responded to the annulment of the 2003 classification by taking a new motion to the government, to create a new certification adopting the term Label Cru Bourgeois, "not as a classification, but as a mark of quality" open to all Médoc wines, based on production and quality standards, to be assessed by an independent body.

[12] Initially, the Alliance des Crus Bourgeois hoped to be able to reintroduce the classification in 2009, and apply it to the 2007 vintage, but this was not achieved.

The Bureau Véritas (the newly formed independent body to oversee the assessment process) inspected the facilities of all the applicants to ensure compliance with the required production standards and the wines were submitted to blind tastings by panels of wine professionals, none of whom are châteaux owners and none of whom have family connections to the applicants.

Crus Bourgeois wineries can be found across the Médoc, but there is a particularly high concentration in the Saint-Estèphe appellation, on the plateau south and west of the village.