First Growth
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First Growth (French Premier Cru) status refers to the greatest wines of the Bordeaux region.
According to the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, only five red wines were assigned the status of Premier Cru, four from Médoc and one from Graves. In addition, eleven of the sweet white wines of Sauternes and Barsac were classed as Premier Cru, and one (Château d'Yquem) was granted a special Premier Cru Supérieur (Great First Growth) classification.
With the exception of Château Haut-Brion from Graves, the 1855 Classification overlooked the regions of Graves, Saint-Emilion and Pomerol entirely, despite the fact that several were and remain to be ranked among the finest red wines in the world. For details on their own classification schemes, see their sections below.
In addition, Burgundy maintains its own classification scheme based on specific appellations.
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Médoc
In the 1855 classification, four wines were assigned the status Premiers Crus.
- Château Lafite Rothschild (Pauillac)
- Château Haut-Brion (Graves)
- Château Margaux (Margaux)
- Château Latour (Pauillac)
Another château, Château Mouton-Rothschild, also from the commune of Pauillac, was elevated to the status of Premier Cru in 1973 and remains the only change to the original list.
In addition to the five Premiers Crus there are 12 Deuxièmes Crus, 14 Troisièmes Crus, 11 Quatrièmes Crus and 17 Cinquièmes Crus.
Sauternes
The sweet white wines of Sauternes and Barsac were classified in the original 1855 scheme, and have thus remained unchanged ever since. In addition to the 12 Premiers Crus, it assigned a further 14 wines the label Second Cru (sic). The first growths are listed here with the commune (village) into which they fell in 1855.
Premier Cru Supérieur
- Château d'Yquem (Sauternes)
Premier Cru
- Château Coutet (Barsac)
- Château Climens (Barsac)
- Château Clos Haut-Peyraguey (Bommes)
- Château Guiraud (Sauternes)
- Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey (Bommes)
- Château Rabaud-Promis (Bommes)
- Château Rabaud-Sigalas (Bommes)
- Château Rayne-Vigneau (Bommes)
- Château Rieussec (Fargues)
- Château de Suduiraut (Preignac)
- Château La Tour-Blanche (Bommes)
The communes of Bommes, Fargues and Preignac now all fall into the single commune of Sauternes.
Graves
Only a single producer from Graves and Pessac-Léognan was included in the classification of 1855, and was assigned the status of Premier Cru:
- Château Haut-Brion (Pessac)
After the Second World War the omission of the great wines of Graves from the official classification was having a noticeable effect on the price and desirability of wines from the region, and so in 1953 the region announced its own classification of red wines, with white wines being added in 1959. Sixteen wines were given special classification.
- Château Bouscaut (red & white)
- Château Carbonnieux (red & white)
- Château Couhins (white)
- Château Couhins Lurton (white)
- Château Domaine de Chevalier (red & white)
- Château Fieuzal (red)
- Château Haut-Bailly (red)
- Château Haut-Brion (red)
- Château La Mission Haut-Brion (red)
- Château Latour Haut-Brion (red)
- Château La Tour Martillac (red & white)
- Château Laville Haut-Brion (white)
- Château Malartic-Lagravière (red & white)
- Château Olivier (red & white)
- Château Pape Clément (red)
- Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte (red)
Saint-Emilion
The region of Saint-Emilion offered its own classification in 1955, and is unique in that it is updated approximately every ten years with each wine able to be promoted or relegated according to quality. The scheme labelled eleven wines Premiers Grands Crus Classés, subdivided into two further classes A and B, and a further 63 wines were classified Grands Crus Classés.
Premiers Grands Crus Classés - A
- Château Ausone
- Château Cheval-Blanc
Premiers Grands Crus Classés - B
- Château Beauséjour-Dufau-Lagarosse
- Château Belair
- Château Canon
- Château Clos Fourtet
- Château Figeac
- Château La Gaffelière
- Château Magdelaine
- Château Pavie
- Château Trottevieille
Pomerol
Despite being one of the greatest appellations of Bordeaux, Pomerol has refused to create any sort of classification scheme. It is remarkable that despite this, it has consistently produced red wines that are among the most expensive in the world, such as the much sought after Château Pétrus.
Burgundy
The region of Burgundy also maintains its own classification of Grands Crus and Premiers Crus generally controlled by the geographical specificity of the appellations used on the bottle. For example, only a Grand Cru wine is permitted to use Appellation Chambertin Contrôlée on its label, whereas wines bearing Appellation Clos Saint-Jacques Contrôlée are implicitly of Premier Cru status, despite both being from the village of Gevrey-Chambertin.