🍷 Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855

The 1855 Classification is a list of the best châteaux of Bordeaux. It was drawn up for the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1855 at the request of Emperor Napoleon III. The aim was to show visitors the best wines of France.

The list was compiled by Bordeaux wine merchants, the brokers. They did not taste every wine but relied on reputation and price: the higher the price a wine had fetched in past years, the higher its place. The list included about sixty red wines from the Médoc, one red from Graves, Château Haut-Brion, and the sweet whites of Sauternes and Barsac. The reds were divided into five levels, from first to fifth growth. The first growths were Lafite, Latour, Margaux and Haut-Brion.

Apart from the addition of Château Cantemerle soon after 1855, the only change came in 1973, when Mouton-Rothschild rose from second to first growth. The list has not changed since.

The classification is known all over the world, and the wines on it are prized. It belongs to the history of Bordeaux and to wine classifications. Its name often appears on labels.