Médoc Crus Bourgeois- EN

Today the Crus Bourgeois represent a large part of the red wines produced in the Médoc wine region, which is located north of Bordeaux.

At the origin the term « Bourgeois » represented many estates throughout the entire Bordeaux region. This term was then concentrated in the Médoc area to distinguish certain properties. It is rather difficult to give a precise date for the origin of this classification, probably before the 19th century.   This classification is based on the first 1932 classification, which has since been followed by numerous revisions.

The last revision took place in 2020 and now will be reviewable every 5 years. It integrates the different communal appellations in the Médoc, such as Saint-Estèphe, Margaux, etc. 

To be part of the Crus Bourgeois the estate has to register and fills a set of criteria : be part of one of the Médoc AOCs, have adequate installations, be conform with the verification plan of the Crus Bourgeois, undergo aleatory analytics and organoleptic controls before packaging… A blind tasting on several vintages is also a requisite to integrate this classification. If you want to understand more about this classification you can click-here.

It results in wines with the recognition of a certain homogeneity and also a certain level of quality. The bottles are traceable and have an easily identifiable “CB” label (for “Crus Bourgeois”). A good thing to guide the consumer in his choice.

Now the Crus Bourgeois are composed of 249 estates (or chateaux) and has 3 ranks, starting with the most prestigious :   

• Crus Bourgeois Exceptionnel (14 estates) 
• Crus Bourgeois Supérieur (56 estates)
• Crus Bourgeois (179 estates)  

The detailed list of domains for each rank is provided below, as my view about this classification.