[RE-CLASSIFYING BORDEAUX]

Since 1855 Bordeaux wines have been ranked by a tier system that has distinguished some châteaux as higher quality performers than others. The system has been helpful in explaining and predicting the historical tendencies of those châteaux fortunate enough to be listed. However, this classification system does not tell the whole story and sometimes can create an incomplete and even misleading perception of the best performing wines in Bordeaux. The position that a particular wine holds can solidify its reputation in the minds of wine lovers for a long period of time. Certainly in many cases the reputation is well deserved but in other cases wines can be unduly identified as a lower level performer which may not allow buyers to truly appreciate the significance of their performance in a given year.

An example of this sort of mischaracterization is Château Lynch-Bages. Long considered a fifth growth, its performance over the past two decades suggests that its ranking should rise as high as any second growth. It has consistently produced outstanding wines. Even as recently as 2002 Château Lynch-Bages has continued its consistently high quality performance with one of the better wines that I tasted in April 2003. This is not typical of a fifth growth wine, unfortunately vintages like these can be overlooked in favor of higher ranking wines producing similar qualities. Consider another prime example of a wine that may suffer from an underrated position, Leoville-Las-Cases. Its performance over the last three decades has been nothing short of extraordinary yet it is still labeled as a second growth. One would expect that its classification will be adjusted to first growth status in due time so that it may enjoy the benefits that come with such a high ranking, benefits that it has certainly earned.

Leading wine critics would probably agree that considering only a wine’s classification when purchasing a bottle is not wise. The classification only indicates the characteristics of an estate and the quality of its recent vintages. Buyers should pay special attention to the details of any given vintage, being careful to identify all wines that are performing well regardless of their position in the classification system. A careful reading of wine critiques along with an understanding of the historical tendencies of a chateau will provide the buyer with the best opportunity to discover the leading wines each year.

If the buyer took this approach in 2000 for example, they would have discovered a multitude of wines that were not even classified at all, whose quality was as good as any in the first growth category. Among those unclassified performers were Pétrus, Lafleur, La Mondotte, and Le Pin. These wines represent another inconsistency in the classification system, they and others who have performed so well not only deserve to be classified, but deserve to be placed near the top of the hierarchy.

There are some instances where a chateau performs so consistently for so long that it is almost guaranteed to produce something special each year. Château Lafite Rothschild is one of the best examples of this. Over the years consumers have come to learn of its history and its continued excellence that has earned it the distinction that true first growth estates enjoy.

The 1855 classification system favors left bank estates generally because right bank estates have been developed fully in more recent times. The most important thing to keep in mind about this system is that it is not all inclusive nor does it serve as a tool to predict a wine’s performance. Instead it is an indicator of the past performance of a château. The Bordeaux region continues to evolve and so does the wine making process. With this evolution should come a continual re-evaluation of the classification system. Honest assessments of wines will mean adjusting the position of some and including others that have thus far been left out. Although we appreciate the system and cherish the glamour of those historical first growths we cannot allow the wine industry to be a glorification of the past. We must continue to shape the future by making honest assessments of where wines stand in relation to each other, and wise purchasing decisions based solely on a wine’s qualities.

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