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1855

The 1855 Classification of Bordeaux is the most famous wine ranking in the world. It was commissioned by Emperor Napoleon III for the Exposition Universelle de Paris of 1855, when he asked for a classification of the region's finest wines to present to international visitors. The task fell to Bordeaux's brokers, who ranked the châteaux by their reputation and trading price — a proxy for quality that has proven remarkably enduring.

Sixty-one red-wine estates were divided into five tiers, from First Growths (Premiers Crus) to Fifth Growths (Cinquièmes Crus). Every classified château lay within the Médoc, with one historic exception: Château Haut-Brion of Graves, whose reputation was too great to omit. The original First Growths were Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Latour, Château Margaux, and Château Haut-Brion.

In more than a century and a half, the ranking has changed only once. In 1973, after decades of campaigning by Baron Philippe de Rothschild, Château Mouton Rothschild was elevated from Second to First Growth — its motto becoming "Premier je suis, second je fus, Mouton ne change" ("First I am, second I was, Mouton does not change").

A separate classification was drawn up the same year for the sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac, crowned by Château d'Yquem as the sole Premier Cru Supérieur. Today the 1855 estates remain the benchmark against which all of Bordeaux — and much of the fine-wine world — is measured.

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