Crus Bourgeois president dies aged 54

Frédéric de Luze, president of the Médoc Crus Bourgeois, has died at the age of 54 following a long illness, the organisation has confirmed.

Frédéric de Luze, president of the Médoc Crus Bourgeois, has died at the age of 54 following a long illness.

Confirming his passing in a statement, the organisation, which oversees the classification of Cru Bourgeois producers in the Médoc, credited Luze with reinventing the classification and with uniting the growers of the Médoc, having taken on the position of president in 2010.

“With unmatched will and determination, he put in place the “Cru Bourgeois” quality initiative, a novelty in the wine sector at the time and since recognised by all”, a Cru Bourgeois spokesperson said.

“In a few years he developed, with the help of his board of directors, a strong presence for the Crus Bourgeois on international markets to promote this new quality initiative. At the same time, he reinvigorated the image of Médoc Crus Bourgeois with new communication tools such as the “Cru Bourgeois” sticker and the Blog “Bourgeois et fiers de l’être” (Bourgeois and proud of it).”

He also helped launch a new classification that would be active for five years, creating a hierarchy of crus. The peak of his presidency should have been the publication of this classification.

Luze was just 20 when he founded “Baron Frédéric de Luze” – a wine merchant company that originally targeted mail order customers but developed to cover both the French and export markets.

Ten years later, Luze partnered with Thierry Decré to create LD Vins, a company specialising in the sale of grands crus internationally.

In 2004 he took over the reins of his family’s family property, Château Paveil de LUZE, a historic Cru Bourgeois of the Médoc in Margaux, following in the footsteps of five generations that had gone before him.