Bordeaux Classifications

It is often written that the habit of classification in Bordeaux began with Napoleon III (1808 – 1873) and his request for a ranking of châteaux to be presented at the Exposition Universelle de Paris in 1855. This is, in fact, a long way from the truth. While the results of this venture – the 1855 Médoc and 1855 Sauternes & Barsac classifications – are the most renowned of all the Bordeaux classifications, the merchants who drew up these two lists on Napoleon’s behalf were merely following in the footsteps of those who had gone before.

Classifications and lists of Bordeaux châteaux, ranked by reputation and price, litter the archives of Tastet & Lawton, the firm of courtiers established in Bordeaux by the Irish immigrant Abraham Lawton in 1740. And my own profiles on this site are stuffed with similar references, most often the work of the courtier Labadie, who ranked the Médoc estates in 1776, when he drew up a report on the region’s wines for the Intendant Général of the Guyenne. He based his ranking on price, which was exactly the same method the 1855 merchants employed.

The prestige conferred by the 1855 classifications prompted others to follow suit, led by the unclassified châteaux of the Médoc, the Cru Bourgeois Classification being signed off in 1932. Graves and St Emilion both followed suit, during the 1950s.

I think to modern-day consumers classifications are largely of historical interest, or occasionally a source of morbid curiosity as we observe the disruption which can result; of the three classifications born in the 20th century, only two (the Cru Bourgeois and St Emilion classifications) are subject to regular review, and both have previously collapsed under the weight of legal proceedings. You might wonder why the Bordelais continue with them, but to proprietors they can be very significant; as a source of affirmation or prestige, and an improved ranking can have a positive effect on the value of your land, the stock in your cellar, and every bottle you sell in the future.

In this section of my guide to Bordeaux I provide accounts of all the five major Bordeaux classifications, linked in the menu. Importantly I do not merely provide a list of names, but I include detail on the history, processes, collapses and revivals, as well as all listings of all previous iterations of each classification. (18/9/25)