My Article: Still Slightly Bewildered By Crus Bourgeois

Frédérique Dutheillet de Lamothe, Managing Director of the Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc

A Huey Lewis and The News concert in Hong Kong sounds like the last place in the world to promote hundreds of different reasonably priced Bordeaux, but an association of Crus Bourgeois poured various vintages – mostly 2009 and 2010 – during the Foreign Correspondents Club’s Annual Charity Ball last weekend.

“I was surprised by all the positive comments,” says Frédérique Dutheillet de Lamothe, managing director of the Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc, an association of wines estates in one of the key areas of Bordeaux. “People said such things as ‘more reasonably priced Bordeaux here’ or ‘I didn’t know there were wines like this from appellations such as Margaux or St-Estèphe.'”

Mainland China sales have plummeted and with a string of good-but nothing-special vintages after the great 2009 and 2010, prices have dropped significantly. Even still, there is a certain amount of sticker shock with most of the top-of-the-line Bordeaux in Hong Kong.

“I even have friends in Paris who say to me ‘you work with Bordeaux wines? Why is Bordeaux so expensive?'” she continues.

Crus Bourgeois can certainly offer excellent value for Bordeaux lovers, regardless if they are in Hong Kong, New York or anywhere else. Most wines with the designation sell for between $15 and $35 a bottle. And many offer outstanding quality – particularly in vintages such as 2010 and 2009.

They’re all fairly recognizable with a sticker over the capsule that reads “Cru Bourgeois” and includes a QR code with information about the group and that particular wine. Wine estates are accepted into the group on an annual basis and through tasting results by a panel. In 2011, 256 wineries were deemed good enough quality to have the Cru Bourgeois designation. Almost 170 are distributed in China.

A lot of confusion persists with the designation following a French court order that nullified the use of the name a few years back. It was reinstated with the 2008 vintage, but I must admit that at times it can still puzzle me. Only until recently I thought that Phélan Ségur and Les Ormes-de-Pez, some of my favorites from the region, were still Crus Bourgeois, but they dropped the designation when the court order came through.

And I can’t be the only one slightly bewildered by the designation. Moreover I think that most Bordeaux lovers buy their wines according to the name of the chateau or ratings given instead of such monikers.

Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean that Cru Bourgeois won’t be more important in the future as we all look for better value in Bordeaux. “We lost our momentum with Cru Bourgeois because of the court decision a few years ago,” she admits. “But we are becoming better-known each year, especially in Asia. People are beginning to realize we offer good value for money.”