The Medoc 1855 Classification

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In 1855 wines in the Bordeaux region were to become classified by quality thanks to the Expoisition Universelle de Paris. Here is an account of the events that occurred and that has moulded the region ever since.

The 1855 classification, looking not only at the red wines of the Médoc but also the wines of Sauternes, was drawn up for the Exposition Universelle de Paris of 1855. This grand exhibition, the brainchild of Emperor Napoleon III, was intended to showcase the best of all that was France, and thus to rival the great exhibitions held in England, such as The Great 'Crystal Palace' Exhibition in 1851.

Napoleon, having decided that the great wines of Bordeaux should be featured in the exhibition, asked the brokers of the region to draw up a list of properties ranked into five groups according to quality. 'Quality' however is perhaps rather nebulous and the pragmatic businessmen decided to rank the wines according to price, which no doubt seemed to those charged with the task to be an appropriate gauge. Although intended as a listing for the show, and nothing more than that, the classification immediately stuck and now appears to be with us for the rest of time. The 1855 classification came to dominate Bordeaux wine, and even today it has not been usurped despite the efforts of several critics who have published their own opinion of how the classification should be refreshed.

Here are the top two classes from the 1855 classification as it stands today; there is no regular review of the classification but it is a little different to how it was originally written in 1855 as a result of the division of some estates and the loss of others.

There remain sixty-one chateaux listed, all in the Médoc except for Haut-Brion, the sole Graves estate, the inclusion of which gives us an indication of the standing of this illustrious property in the mid-19th Century.

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