The first official attempt at the classification of Bordeaux wines was the “1855 Classification of the Great Growths of the Gironde.” That year, the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce licensed the wine merchants of the region to devise a list of the finest Bordeaux reds. As a result, a ranked list of the 61 top wines of the region was created.

These 61 wines were dubbed “Classified Growths” or, in French, “Grand Cru Classés” wines (a cru in Bordeaux refers to a wine estate). At that time, the Haut-Médoc sub-region dominated the Bordeaux wine trade, therefore 60 of the 61 wines on the list were wines from that sub-region, whilst one was from Graves. All Right Bank wines were, unfortunately, excluded from this famous ranking effort.

The 1855 Classification broke down the 61 classified growths into five categories, or classes, based on their quality. At the very top ranked the “first growths”, followed by the “second growths,” and so forth.

At the time, the “first growth” category contained only four wines, but one wine was subsequently added to that rank. These five top wines are

• Château Lafite-Rothschild
• Château Latour
• Chateau Margaux
• Château Haut Brion (Graves)
• Château Mouton-Rothschild (elevated from Second Growth in 1973)

The remaining categories comprise of 56 wines, including

• 14 Second Growths
• 14 Third Growths
• 10 Fourth Growths
• 18 Fifth Growths

These 61 classified growths, which make up about 25 percent of the wine production in the Médoc peninsula, have enjoyed greater prestige than most other Bordeaux wines over the years. Even today as 13,000 wine producers (8,000 of which are wine estates) exist in Bordeaux, only these 61 wines have been ordained to be worthy by the most renowned of all wine classifications: the 1855 Classification.