Saint-Émilion Classification

The idea of a classification dates to the early 1950s. In 1952 a classification regulation scheme was drawn up under the auspices of INAO and the Ministry of Agriculture, and in 1954 three appellations were added to the Saint-Émilion AOC of 1936: Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé and Saint-Émilion Premier Grand Cru Classé. In 1955, responding to a request from the Union for the Defence of the Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Appellation, INAO made the first classification, with 75 châteaux: 63 Grands Crus Classés and 12 Premiers Grands Crus Classés. From the start it was designed to be revised every ten years. The editions are dated June 16, 1955 (completed in 1958), November 17, 1969, May 23, 1986, November 8, 1996, December 12, 2006 and September 6, 2012, and the 2022 classification is the seventh. The 2006 edition did not stand. Four châteaux demoted in that review filed legal complaints alleging that the classification commission was biased; a Bordeaux court struck the classification down on July 1, 2008, and the French senate voted on July 9 to reinstate the 1996 rankings.

• 1955: 75 châteaux classified, 12 Premiers Grands Crus Classés and 63 Grands Crus Classés
• 2006: the case was brought by four of the 11 châteaux that lost classified status, Guadet, La Tour du Pin Figeac, Cadet Bon and La Marzelle, and ended with the whole classification cancelled and the 1996 ranking reinstated
• 2012: 18 premiers grands crus classés and 64 grands crus classés; Angélus and Pavie were promoted to Premier Grand Cru Classé A, a tier previously home only to Ausone and Cheval Blanc
• 2022: INAO's national committee approved the new list on September 8, 2022, and Figeac was promoted to Premier Grand Cru Classé A

The Saint-Émilion and Saint-Émilion Grand Cru appellations are geographically intertwined. Their area covers Saint-Émilion, Saint-Christophe-des-Bardes, Saint-Etienne-de-Lisse, Saint-Hippolyte, Saint-Laurent-des-Combes, Saint-Pey-d'Armens, Saint-Sulpice-de-Faleyrens and Vignonet, with parts of the town of Libourne. The two appellations have 5,450 hectares in vine, a temperate oceanic climate and an average annual temperature of 12.8°C. Only the best wines are entitled to the Grand Cru appellation, and it is the Grand Cru appellation that allows the titles Grand Cru Classé and Premier Grand Cru Classé.

• Soil type: limestone plateau
• Soil type: siliceous clayey gravel terrace
• Soil types: clayey limestone hillsides and valleys, and the sandy gravel plain of the Dordogne valley
• Château Figeac: three Gunzian gravel outcrops with blue clay at depth

Local winegrowers have selected three main grape varieties and three secondary ones. Merlot holds pride of place, alongside Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, with Malbec (also known as Cot or Pressac), Petit Verdot and Carmenère grown much more marginally. Cabernet Franc accounts for almost a third of all vines and ripens approximately two weeks after Merlot, while Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for a tenth of all production. Blends vary by estate: at Château Figeac, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon represent 70% of the blend.

• Merlot: an early-fruiting grape that likes cool clay-textured soils and brings colour, suppleness and red fruit aromas
• Cabernet Franc: mainly cultivated around Libourne, favoured on limestone or warmer sandy and gravelly soils, and gives freshness and a striking tannic structure suited to ageing
• Cabernet Sauvignon: a late-fruiting grape suited to warm, dry soils such as sandy gravel, adding spicy notes and rich tannins
• Château Figeac: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot, with the two Cabernets at 70% of the blend

The classification is provided for in the specifications of the AOC Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, which entrust the process to INAO. For the 2022 edition INAO set up a seven-member classification commission on June 16, 2020, and the classification regulations were approved by decree on May 14, 2020. The commission's work over almost two years was supported by Bureau Veritas Certification France, an independent third-party organization appointed via a public contract, and by INAO. For the 2022 classification, Grand Cru Classé candidates presented 10 vintages from 2010 to 2019, and Premier Grand Cru Classé candidates 15 vintages from 2005 to 2019. Scoring is on a 20-point scale, with Premier Grand Cru Classé estates needing a minimum of 16/20 and Grand Cru Classé estates needing 14/20. Tasting makes up 50% of the final score at both levels; reputation (advertising, distribution and value) 20% for Grands Crus Classés and 35% for Premiers Grands Crus Classés; winery and terroirs 20% and 10%; and methods used in winegrowing and oenology 10% and 5%. Only candidates already admitted as Grand Cru Classé could be examined for Premier Grand Cru Classé.

• Tasting panel: 43 expert tasters under Gilles de Revel, professor at the ISVV, tasted 1,343 samples between December 2021 and April 2022; each needed at least 10 years of experience in the field
• Classified plots: the classification identifies, for each property, the plots entitled to go into the classified wine for the next 10 years
• Adding land: the classification has restrictive regulations about adding new plots, and Quintus withdrew from it when it added the L'Arrosée plots
• 2022 tiers: 2 Premiers Grands Crus Classés A (Figeac, Pavie), 12 Premiers Grands Crus Classés and 71 Grands Crus Classés, 85 properties in all

INAO's 2022 list names Château Figeac and Château Pavie as the two premiers grands crus classés with the distinction A. Château Figeac and Château Pavie now occupy the Premier Grand Cru Classé A pinnacle of the 2022 classification. Figeac, owned by the same family since 1892, was the only producer to secure promotion to Premier Grand Cru Classé A in 2022. The other 12 premiers grands crus classés are Beau-Séjour Bécot, Beauséjour Héritiers Duffau-Lagarrosse, Bélair-Monange, Canon, Canon La Gaffelière, Clos Fourtet, La Mondotte, Larcis Ducasse, Pavie Macquin, Troplong Mondot, Trottevieille and Valandraud. Several names from the 2012 top tiers are absent: Ausone and Cheval Blanc withdrew ahead of the 2022 renewal, Angélus withdrew its candidacy, and Château La Gaffelière, ranked Premier Grand Cru Classé B, joined the exodus from the 2022 ranking in June 2022.

• Premiers Grands Crus Classés A (2022): Château Figeac and Château Pavie
• Ausone and Cheval Blanc: both announced in July 2021 that they would withdraw; Cheval Blanc's management wrote of new criteria that amount to "marketing drift", and Ausone co-owner Pauline Vauthier said the decision was not made "in concert" with Cheval Blanc
• Angélus: withdrew its candidacy in January 2022, describing the classification as having become "a vehicle for antagonism and instability"
• Quintus: Domaine Clarence Dillon bought Château Tertre Daugay in 2011 and renamed it Quintus, acquired its neighbour Château L'Arrosée in 2013 and integrated the two, then in 2021 acquired Grand Cru Classé Château Grand-Pontet to combine with Quintus; Quintus is not classified, and neither L'Arrosée nor Grand-Pontet appears on the 2022 list

In 1999 Saint-Émilion and its vineyards were listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, which the Conseil des Vins de Saint-Émilion describes as the first time on the planet that a viticultural landscape had been listed in this way. The listing covers the town and its former jurisdiction: Saint-Émilion, Saint-Christophe des Bardes, Saint-Etienne de Lisse, Saint-Hippolyte, Saint-Laurent des Combes, Saint-Pey d'Armens, Saint-Sulpice de Faleyrens and Vignonet. Any change to the structure of the soil or planting of a plot must be approved by a committee made up of State representatives, INAO, architects from the Bâtiments de France heritage protection agency and the Saint-Émilion Wine Council. Advertising, communication, technical investments and wine tourism are among the aspects winemakers need to work on to join the elite of the Crus de Saint-Émilion.

• UNESCO listing (1999): Saint-Émilion and its vineyards, which the Conseil des Vins de Saint-Émilion counts as the first viticultural landscape listed
• Eight villages: the World Heritage association, jointly chaired by the Saint-Émilion Wine Council, acts on behalf of the eight villages in the Jurisdiction of Saint-Émilion
• Planting controls: a committee of State representatives, INAO, Bâtiments de France architects and the Wine Council approves any change to soil structure or plot planting
• Wine tourism and the ranking: Cheval Blanc's 2021 letter listed wine tourism infrastructure among the criteria it called "marketing drift"

Primary sources (the Conseil des Vins de Saint-Émilion, INAO, Château Figeac and Château Quintus): https://vins-saint-emilion.com/en/welcome-in-the-vineyard/the-2022-classification/, https://vins-saint-emilion.com/uploads/2022/09/dossier-de-presse_Nouveau-classement-des-vins-de-Saint-Emilion-2022.pdf, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/en/lettres-odg/septembre-2022/saint-emilion-grand-cru-classement, https://vins-saint-emilion.com/en/welcome-in-the-vineyard/saint-emilion-wine-classification/, https://www.chateau-quintus.com/en/the-chateau/, https://vins-saint-emilion.com/en/unesco-heritage/unesco-listing/, https://vins-saint-emilion.com/en/welcome-in-the-vineyard/saint-emilion-and-grand-cru/, https://vins-saint-emilion.com/en/a-taste-of-saint-emilion/merlot-and-blending/, https://www.chateau-figeac.com/en/the-place/, https://www.chateau-figeac.com/en/the-wine/. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/st-emilion-2022-classification-promotes-chateau-figeac-to-premier-grand-cru-classe-a-487144/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/chateau-quintus-acquires-chateau-grand-potent-465570/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/cheval-blanc-and-ausone-to-leave-st-emilion-classification-461827/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/angelus-withdraws-from-the-next-st-emilion-classification-471835/, https://www.decanter.com/features/the-2006-classification-scandal-of-st-emilion-246807/, https://www.winespectator.com/articles/haut-brion-owners-expand-plans-on-right-bank-buy-chateau-grand-pontet, https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/domaine-clarence-dillon-makes-second-saint-emilion-purchase-18445/, https://www.winespectator.com/articles/chateau-haut-brion-owners-buy-st-emilions-chateau-larrosee-48529, https://www.winespectator.com/articles/french-government-reinstates-st-emilion-classification-sort-of-4258. Last verified 2026-10-05