Bordeaux has about 117,000 hectares of vineyards, 57 appellations, 9,000 wine-producing châteaux, 13,000 grape growers, 400 traders and sales of 14.5 billion euros annually. With an annual production of over 700 million bottles, Bordeaux produces large quantities of everyday wine as well as the most expensive ones.
Both red and white wines are made in Bordeaux. Red Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes and may be made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and, less commonly in recent years, Carmenere. White Bordeaux is made from Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Muscadelle.
The Bordeaux wine region is divided into six subregions, or 'terroirs': Bordeaux/Bordeaux Superior, Médoc et Graves, Cotes de Bordeaux Saint-Émilion, Pomerol, Fronsac, Dry White (Vin Blancs Sec, and Sweet White (Vin Blanc D'or). The area's five 'premier cru' (first growth) red wines (four from Médoc and one, Chateau Haut-Brion, from Graves), established by the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 are among the most expensive wines in the world: The first growths are:
- Château Lafite-Rothschild
- Château Margaux
- Château Latour
- Château Haut-Brion
- Château Mouton-Rothschild
For the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, Emperor Napoleon III requested a classification system for France's best Bordeaux wines which were to be on display for visitors from around the world. Brokers from the wine industry ranked the wines according to a château's reputation and trading price, which at that time was directly related to quality. The result was the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855.
The wines were ranked in importance from first to fifth growths (crus). All of the red wines that made it on the list came from the Médoc region except for one: Château Haut-Brion from Graves. The white wines, then of much less importance than red wine, were limited to the sweet varieties of Sauternes and Barsac and were ranked only from first great growth to second growth.
Within each category, the various châteaux are ranked in order of quality and only twice since the 1855 classification has there been a change, first when in 1856 Château Cantemerle was added as a fifth growth and, more significantly, in 1973, when Château Mouton Rothschild was elevated from a second growth to a first growth vineyard after decades of intense lobbying by the powerful Philippe de Rothschild.
Interestingly, since it is a classification of Châteaux, the actual vineyards owned by some wineries have expanded and shrunk without any reclassification. Because of this, the government proposed revising the classification in 1961 and deleting 17 producers. However, the negative impact on prices that would be received by the affected châteaux led to strong political pressures and the government backed down.
Most wine critics agree that the 1855 Classification is now out of date. Robert M. Parker, Jr. argues that the classification has long created an injustice to consumers because it has caused mediocre wines to be sold for too much and good wine to be sold for too little. He says that the archaic classification "should be regarded by both the wine connoisseur and the novice as informational items of historical significance only." (Ironically, the same criticism - that oenophiles follow this dogma slavishly and uncritically when the matters are in fact variable and subjective - has been leveled against their adherence to the writings and ratings of Mr. Parker himself. Determining an up-to-date classification is a favorite parlor game, especially among French wine enthusiasts.
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