1855 Classification

The 1855 Classification grew out of the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1855. Napoleon III wanted to showcase the very best of France's vineyards and asked Bordeaux's wine brokers for a clear, structured ranking of their finest wines, stipulating two criteria: the reputation of each estate and the market prices fetched by its most recent vintages. On April 5, 1855, the Chamber of Commerce asked the wine brokers' syndicate to rate and rank the region's finest wines, and the classification was established on April 18. Most owners did not even bother sending bottles to Paris to be exhibited, Jane Anson writes in Decanter.

• Napoleon III asked Bordeaux's brokers for the ranking for the 1855 Paris Universal Exhibition
• The Chamber of Commerce's request went to the wine brokers' syndicate on April 5, 1855, and the classification was established on April 18, 1855
• Benjamin Lewin MW writes in Decanter that the original list held 57 wines and that there are now 61 because some châteaux split in two and both parts kept the classification

The red wine classification has five levels: Premier Cru, Second Cru, Troisième Cru, Quatrième Cru and Cinquième Cru. The current listing places the classified châteaux in Pauillac, Margaux, Saint-Julien, Saint-Estèphe and the Haut-Médoc, plus Haut-Brion in Pessac. The rank belongs to the château rather than to its vineyards: châteaux can trade their land without affecting their classification.

• Premier Cru (First Growth): 5 châteaux - Lafite Rothschild, Latour, Margaux, Haut-Brion, Mouton Rothschild
• Second Cru (Second Growth): 14 châteaux including Cos d'Estournel, Ducru-Beaucaillou, Léoville Las-Cases, and Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
• Troisième through Cinquième Crus: 14 Third, 10 Fourth and 18 Fifth Growths; Pauillac Fifth Growths include Lynch-Bages, Pontet-Canet and Grand-Puy-Lacoste
• The rank attaches to the château, not to specific vineyards, so châteaux can trade land without affecting their classification

Château Mouton Rothschild, in Pauillac, was a Second Growth on the 1855 list and was reclassified from Second Growth status in 1973. For twenty years Baron Philippe de Rothschild fought to secure its elevation to First Growth status, and he triumphed in 1973. Benjamin Lewin MW, writing in Decanter, judges that Baron Philippe succeeded through force of personality and political influence where every other attempt at reclassification had failed. From 1945 each year's Mouton vintage label was illustrated with an original artwork by a contemporary artist, and the 1973 label is by Pablo Picasso.

• Mouton Rothschild was a Second Growth in 1855 and was reclassified as a First Growth in 1973
• Baron Philippe de Rothschild, who ran the estate from 1922 to 1988, campaigned for twenty years for the promotion
• Lafite Rothschild, Latour and Mouton Rothschild are all in Pauillac

Alongside the reds, the 1855 classification ranks the sweet white wines of Sauternes and Barsac in three levels: Premier Cru Supérieur, Premier Cru and Second Cru. Château d'Yquem stands alone as Premier Cru Supérieur, followed by 11 Premiers Crus and 15 Seconds Crus, 27 classified châteaux in Sauternes and Barsac in all. The Premiers Crus include the Barsac estates Château Climens and Château Coutet alongside Sauternes estates such as Château Suduiraut, Château Rieussec, Château Guiraud and Château La Tour Blanche.

• Château d'Yquem is the only Premier Cru Supérieur
• 11 Premiers Crus: La Tour Blanche, Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Clos Haut-Peyraguey, de Rayne-Vigneau, Suduiraut, Coutet, Climens, Guiraud, Rieussec, Rabaud-Promis and Sigalas-Rabaud
• 15 Seconds Crus complete the list, among them Château de Myrat, Château Doisy Daëne, Château Filhot, Château Nairac and Château de Malle
• The classification counts 27 châteaux in Sauternes and Barsac and 88 classified growths in all

Jane Anson writes in Decanter that Château Cantemerle's owner, Caroline de Villeneuve, secured its listing: after finding the estate left off the list, she insisted on meeting the union of brokers; the meeting took place, and Cantemerle was added as a fifth growth, in different handwriting from the rest of the original document. When INAO attempted an official reclassification in 1961, dividing the châteaux into three groups, dropping 17 and including 13 new ones, a leak to the press killed the proposal. The classification covers only the red wines of the Médoc, Haut-Brion from the Graves, and the sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac. The region's other terroirs have their own classifications, including those of the Graves, Saint-Émilion, the Crus Bourgeois du Médoc and the Crus Artisans.

• Cantemerle was added as a Fifth Growth, and Mouton Rothschild was promoted to First Growth in 1973
• INAO's 1961 reclassification attempt, which would have dropped 17 châteaux and added 13, was killed by a press leak
• The Right Bank sits outside the list; its wines were, Lewin writes, so much lower in price they were not thought worth including
• Bordeaux's other classifications include Graves, Saint-Émilion, Crus Bourgeois du Médoc and Crus Artisans

Benjamin Lewin MW, writing in Decanter (last updated 2015), calculated that on relative prices of the classified growths over the previous decade only 28 of the 61 classified châteaux would remain in their original price groups. Ordering all Médoc wines by price, he places Palmer, a Third Growth, and Lynch-Bages, a Fifth Growth, among the 'super-seconds', and he writes that if the classification were extended to the Right Bank, most of the top 50 wines of Bordeaux by price would come from Saint-Émilion or Pomerol. The fine wine exchange Liv-ex re-ran the price-based method for Médoc and Pessac-Léognan wines with a minimum production of 2,000 cases, using average case prices for 2003 to 2007 as of 31 December 2008; its list moved Mission Haut-Brion into the First Growths, lifted Lynch-Bages to Second Growth and put Palmer at the top of the Seconds. The Saint-Émilion classification is revised every decade.

• On Lewin's decade of relative prices, only 28 of the 61 classified châteaux would stay in their original price groups
• Liv-ex's price-based recalculation (prices as of 31 December 2008) moved Mission Haut-Brion into the First Growths and Lynch-Bages to Second Growth
• Palmer (Third Growth) and Lynch-Bages (Fifth Growth) sit among the price-defined 'super-seconds' in Lewin's analysis
• Lewin writes that on a ranking including the Right Bank, most of Bordeaux's top 50 wines by price would come from Saint-Émilion or Pomerol

Primary sources (bordeaux.com, the Conseil des Grands Crus Classés en 1855, and Château Mouton Rothschild): https://www.bordeaux.com/en/classifications/classifications-1855/, https://gcc-1855.fr/ListingGCC1855-en.pdf, https://www.chateau-mouton-rothschild.com/the-history/the-history-of-mouton/from-baron-philippe, https://www.chateau-mouton-rothschild.com/label-art/discover-the-artwork/pablo-picasso, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/classifications/, https://gcc-1855.fr/en/. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/features/the-1855-classification-on-the-mark-or-marketing-ploy-246574/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/opinion/news-blogs-anson/bordeaux-women-wine-history-382581/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/liv-ex-creates-new-1855-classification-73197/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/the-1855-classification-77200/. Last verified 2026-11-09