Wat is er al niet geschreven over de befaamde wijnclassificatie van 1855 in Bordeaux? Die had destrijds uitsluitend met de prijs te maken en kwam in 2 weken tot stand. Niemand heeft ooit vermoed dat die classificatie tot op de dag van vandaag als kwaliteitsmaatstaf zou worden gehanteerd. De classificatie is niet eens terroir-gebonden, maar is rechtstreeks gekoppeld aan een château. Wat voor nut die dan nu nog kan worden toegerekend, vraagt collega Britt Carlsson zich af in bijgaand artikel:

“The most famous of all wine classifications was made more than 150 years ago. The 1855 Bordeaux Grand Cru Classé Classification, made for the World Exhibition in Paris that same year. The people responsible at the time could hardly have imagined the impact this classification would have. It is mentioned constantly whenever Bordeaux and Bordeaux wines are being discussed.
Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande

Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande , copyright BKWine Photography

It was a close thing that this classification had never seen the light of day. At first, nobody thought about presenting Bordeaux wines at the Exhibition. And when the Chamber of Commerce in Bordeaux finally was commissioned to make a list of the best wine estates in the region, there was only a month left before the opening. But it did not matter.

The list of 60 chateaux in the Médoc (and Château Haut-Brion in the Graves) as well as 27 chateaux in Sauternes was completed in two weeks

How did they do it? Well, by not tasting a single wine. The chateaux on the list were simply the ones with the most expensive wines. The wines that people are willing to pay the most for must be the best, was the logic behind the strategy (or it could be that they simply had no time to do it in any other way).

Whatever the reason, when you think about it, what better impartial measure of the quality of a wine is there, than the price consumers are willing to pay?


If you look closer at the 1855 classification you notice things that are not obvious at a first glance. Most important, this classification has nothing to do with terroir. It is the chateaux as brands that are classified.

A good example is Château Desmirail, a Grand Cru Classé of Margaux. Desmirail lost all its vineyards to Château Palmer in the 1920s (an unfortunate game of poker, perhaps?), But the grand cru classé-status was retained because it is the chateau, which is classified, not the vineyards. In 1981 Lucien Lurton bought the Desmirail and began to reconstruct the vineyard with new land.

It is pretty obvious that since 1855 a lot of things have happened in the Bordeaux vineyards. Most classified chateaux have more vines today than they had in 1855.
School gradings?

To classify estates and vineyards is a typical French phenomenon. Maybe this habit has to do with the French school system, where students incessantly are ranked according to performance. It does, however, undoubtedly give prestige to certain wines and many other wine regions and countries would probably like to have something similar.
What’s the point with a classification



We talked to Laurent Cogombles, president of the Pessac-Léognan Producer Association, a few years ago when the region of Graves had plans to update its classification which dates from the 1950s. Laurent said he was sceptical to classifications.

To make a “fair” classification, he said, the only thing you should take into account is the price. Exactly like they did in 1855. But consumer can find the wines with the highest prices without the help of classifica

Only one slight modification has been made to the Bordeaux Grand Cru Classé 1855 classification (in 1973) and there will never again be any modifications. The classification still has an impact, that is certainly true, today perhaps more than it used to. But it is also very much like a historical monument.

Maybe an application for the Unesco World Culture Heritage list is the next step.

The 1855 classification of Bordeaux is really a classification of chateau, meaning the building, or the “brand” attached to the building, rather than a classification of a vineyard or a terroir. The classification comprised 60 chateau in the Medoc, except for one that was in the Graves, producing red wines and 27 chateaux in the Sauternes making sweet white wines.

Here is a simplified version of the list.

The 1855 classification Bordeaux wine estates

(It should be noted that some estates have been merged and some have been split, or even disappeared. Some names have changed a little or a lot. This list refers to the current chateaux and chateau names)
The red wine chateau in Medoc and Graves
First Growths (Premiers Crus)

Château Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac
Château Latour, Pauillac
Château Margaux, Margaux
Château Haut-Brion, Pessac, Graves
Château Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac

Second Growths (Seconds Crus)

Château Rauzan-Ségla, Margaux
Château Rauzan-Gassies, Margaux
Château Léoville-Las Cases, St.-Julien
Château Léoville-Poyferré, St.-Julien
Château Léoville-Barton, St.-Julien
Château Durfort-Vivens, Margaux
Château Gruaud-Larose, St.-Julien
Château Lascombes, Margaux
Château Brane-Cantenac, Cantenac-Margaux (Margaux)
Château Pichon Longueville Baron, Pauillac (often named Pichon Baron)
Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac (often named Pichon Lalande or Pichon Comtesse or a combination of the two)
Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, St.-Julien
Château Cos d’Estournel, St.-Estèphe
Château Montrose, St.-Estèphe

Third Growths (Troisièmes Crus)

Château Kirwan, Cantenac-Margaux (Margaux)
Château d’Issan, Cantenac-Margaux (Margaux)
Château Lagrange, St.-Julien
Château Langoa-Barton, St.-Julien
Château Giscours, Labarde-Margaux (Margaux)
now Château Malescot St. Exupéry, Margaux
Château Cantenac-Brown, Cantenac-Margaux (Margaux)
Château Boyd-Cantenac, Margaux
Château Palmer, Cantenac-Margaux (Margaux)
Château La Lagune, Ludon (Haut-Medoc)
Château Desmirail, Margaux
Château Dubignon, Margaux
Château Calon-Ségur, St.-Estèphe
Château Ferrière, Margaux
Château Marquis d’Alesme Becker, Margaux

Fourth Growths (Quatrièmes Crus)

Château Saint-Pierre, St.-Julien
Château Talbot, St.-Julien
Château Branaire-Ducru, St.-Julien
Château Duhart-Milon, Pauillac
Château Pouget, Cantenac-Margaux (Margaux)
Château La Tour Carnet, St.-Laurent (Haut-Médoc)
Château Lafon-Rochet, St.-Estèphe
Château Beychevelle, St.-Julien
Château Prieuré-Lichine, Cantenac-Margaux (Margaux)
Château Marquis de Terme, Margaux

Fifth Growths (Cinquièmes Crus)

Château Pontet-Canet, Pauillac
Château Batailley, Pauillac
Château Haut-Batailley, Pauillac
Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Pauillac
Château Grand-Puy-Ducasse, Pauillac
Château Lynch-Bages, Pauillac
Château Lynch-Moussas, Pauillac
Château Dauzac, Labarde (Margaux)
Château d’Armailhac, Pauillac
Château du Tertre, Arsac (Margaux)
Château Haut-Bages-Libéral, Pauillac
Château Pédesclaux, Pauillac
Château Belgrave, St.-Laurent (Haut-Médoc)
Château de Camensac, St.-Laurent (Haut-Médoc)
Château Cos Labory, St.-Estèphe
Château Clerc-Milon, Pauillac
Château Croizet Bages, Pauillac
Château Cantemerle, Macau (Haut-Médoc)

The sweet white wines
Superior First Growth (Premier Cru Supérieur)

Château d’Yquem, Sauternes

First Growths (Premier Crus)

Château La Tour Blanche, Bommes (Sauternes)
Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Bommes (Sauternes)
Château Clos Haut-Peyraguey, Bommes (Sauternes)
Château de Rayne-Vigneau, Bommes (Sauternes)
Château Suduiraut, Preignac (Sauternes)
Château Coutet, Barsac
Château Climens, Barsac
Château Guiraud, Sauternes
Château Rieussec, Fargues (Sauternes)
Château Rabaud-Promis, Bommes (Sauternes)
Château Sigalas-Rabaud, Bommes (Sauternes)

Second Growths (Deuxième Crus)

Château de Myrat, Barsac
Château Doisy Daëne, Barsac
Château Doisy-Dubroca, Barsac
Château Doisy-Védrines, Barsac
Château d’Arche, Sauternes
Château Filhot, Sauternes
Château Broustet, Barsac
Château Nairac, Barsac
Château Caillou, Barsac
Château Suau, Barsac
Château de Malle, Preignac (Sauternes)
Château Romer, Fargues (Sauternes)
Château Romer du Hayot, Fargues (Sauternes)
Château Lamothe, Sauternes
Château Lamothe-Guignard, Sauternes