# Bordeaux Reviews > Bordeaux Reviews adjudicates claims about Bordeaux. Each Château Case File takes one claim the region repeats about itself, sets it against primary sources cited to the page, and returns a verdict. The site also has a page for each of 629 châteaux and 91 houses of the Bordeaux trade (négociants, brokers, cooperages and institutions), explains the 6 lists of classified estates and 40 appellations, and publishes daily Bordeaux news and tasting notes. - Author: Antonio Assumpção (Guto Assumpção), Master of Bordeaux, French Wine Scholar, WSET Level 3. https://bordeauxreviews.com/about/ - Editions: English https://bordeauxreviews.com/, Brazilian Portuguese https://bordeauxreviews.com/pt/ - Contact: antonio@bordeauxreviews.com ## Size 18 published case files, 629 châteaux with a page of their own, 91 houses of the Bordeaux trade with a page of their own, 221 tastings, 809 archived news items. ## The Château Case Files Each case appears first on Instagram and then here, in full. 70 cases are planned. - [01/70 Can a wine buy its way to the top?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/case-files/can-a-wine-buy-its-way-to-the-top/) - Claim: "Mouton bought its way to the top." - Verdict: FALSE - In one line: "Money opened the door; the wine had earned the room." - [02/70 Was the Maharajah of Saint-Estèphe a fraud?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/case-files/was-the-maharajah-of-saint-estephe-a-fraud/) - Claim: "The Maharajah of Saint-Estèphe was a fraud." - Verdict: FALSE - In one line: "India paid before Bordeaux bowed. The brokers priced the wine beside Rauzan and Léoville, and the pagodas were a thank-you note written in stone." - [03/70 Can a classified château die?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/case-files/can-a-classified-chateau-die/) - Claim: "A classified château can die." - Verdict: CONFIRMED - In one line: "Nobody in this story did anything wrong. Fourcade did what any proprietor with 2 adjoining vineyards and one cellar has always done, and the Dubignons sold, which is what families do." - [04/70 Can a château come back from the dead?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/case-files/can-a-chateau-come-back-from-the-dead/) - Claim: "A château can come back from the dead." - Verdict: CONFIRMED - In one line: "A directory that carries a rank for 54 years without once describing the wine has kept a register of titles, and recorded no judgment about quality." - [05/70 Does great wine need centuries?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/case-files/does-great-wine-need-centuries/) - Claim: "Great wine needs centuries." - Verdict: MOSTLY TRUE - In one line: "For nearly every great estate, the claim holds: time makes the wine. Montrose broke the rule in 40 years, and the exception is the measure of its greatness." - [06/70 Could the Classification be appealed?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/case-files/could-the-classification-be-appealed/) - Claim: "The Classification of 1855 could never be appealed." - Verdict: FALSE - In one line: "One woman with 40 years of receipts appealed, and won. Cantemerle was able to do in a few months what Mouton tried for a century." - [07/70 Does a château need a classification?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/case-files/does-a-chateau-need-a-classification/) - Claim: "A château needs a classification." - Verdict: LEGEND - In one line: "The Classification is a ladder, not a ceiling. Sociando-Mallet never touched it, and is priced level with those who climbed." - [08/70 Does the Classification rank the soil?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/case-files/does-the-classification-rank-the-soil/) - Claim: "The Classification ranks the soil." - Verdict: FALSE - In one line: "The claim on trial is narrower than the defense of the brokers, and it is the one people actually repeat: that the list ranks land, so classified land makes classified wine and unclassified land cannot." - [09/70 Can a name outlive the man?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/case-files/can-a-name-outlive-the-man/) - Claim: "A name can outlive the man." - Verdict: CONFIRMED - In one line: "Nobody in Bordeaux kept the word out of affection for an English general, and the Pereires could have called the place Château Pereire with every right." - [10/70 Is there a second Margaux?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/case-files/is-there-a-second-margaux/) - Claim: "There is a second Margaux." - Verdict: MIXED - In one line: "The complaint is as old as the rank. For 2 centuries Durfort has carried a Second Growth's name and a question mark's price, and the books have argued all the while." - [11/70 Did one inheritance split Pichon in two?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/case-files/did-one-inheritance-split-pichon-in-two/) - Claim: "One inheritance split Pichon in two." - Verdict: MIXED - In one line: "The claim on trial is that one inheritance split Pichon in two. The deed of June 1850 is real, and the land it parted never rejoined." - [12/70 Did the Revolution break up Léoville?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/case-files/did-the-revolution-break-up-leoville/) - Claim: "The Revolution broke up Léoville." - Verdict: MOSTLY TRUE - In one line: "The claim on trial is that the Revolution broke up Léoville. The Revolution seized the first quarter in 1794 and sold it off, and that quarter became Léoville Barton." - [13/70 Where is the château in Léoville Barton?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/case-files/where-is-the-chateau-in-leoville-barton/) - Claim: "Léoville Barton has never had a château of its own." - Verdict: CONFIRMED - In one line: "The claim is that Léoville Barton has never had a château of its own." - [14/70 Who said 'my heart is at Calon'?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/case-files/who-said-my-heart-is-at-calon/) - Claim: "The Marquis de Ségur said: 'My heart is at Calon.'" - Verdict: LEGEND - In one line: "The claim on trial is that the Marquis de Ségur said 'My heart is at Calon.' The court found no witness." - [15/70 Were the twins of Margaux ever twins?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/case-files/were-the-twins-of-margaux-ever-twins/) - Claim: "The twins of Margaux were never really equal." - Verdict: CONFIRMED - In one line: "The claim is that the twins of Margaux were never really equal. They came out of a family partition, 3 generations before the classification, as 2 thirds and one third of an estate that also gave a piece to Desmirail." - [16/70 Why did the baron de Brane sell Mouton?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/case-files/why-did-the-baron-sell-mouton/) - Claim: "The baron de Brane sold Mouton itself to bet everything on the gravel of Cantenac." - Verdict: CONFIRMED - In one line: "The claim is that the baron de Brane sold Mouton itself to bet everything on the gravel of Cantenac." - [17/70 Did ships really lower their sails for Beychevelle?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/case-files/did-ships-lower-their-sails-for-beychevelle/) - Claim: "Ships lowered their sails to salute the Grand Admiral, and the salute named Beychevelle." - Verdict: LEGEND - In one line: "The legend gives the duke the river. The chronicle, for the admiral's years and those just after, gives the river to another man: Lussan, who took money from ships and was declared a traitor for it." - [18/70 Was Cheval Blanc once part of Figeac?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/case-files/did-figeac-give-birth-to-cheval-blanc/) - Claim: "Figeac gave birth to Cheval Blanc." - Verdict: CONFIRMED - In one line: "Both estates concede the sale of 1832, and Figeac's own restorer called it a birth." ## The Bordeaux trade: négociants, brokers and coopers The négociants, courtiers, cooperages, institutions and houses of the past of the Bordeaux trade. - [The 91 houses, each with its kind, its seat and the line that opens its page](https://bordeauxreviews.com/llms/trade.md) - [The Trade](https://bordeauxreviews.com/trade/): the trade page, with the full directory ## The grapes of Bordeaux 80 grapes: today's, those admitted for adaptation, those Bordeaux once grew and their kin, with the DNA parentage and the sources. - [The grapes of Bordeaux: what each gives the wine, when it is picked, and the family tree](https://bordeauxreviews.com/grapes/): Each grape gives the wine something different and ripens in its own time. - [Old names](https://bordeauxreviews.com/grapes/old-names/): the names printed in the Gironde books, with the source and the status of each case - [The grapes of Bordeaux, as data](https://bordeauxreviews.com/grapes/data/): CSV, JSON, CC BY 4.0 - [Each grape with its answer line](https://bordeauxreviews.com/llms/grapes.md) ## Terroir Shares measured on BRGM’s BD Charm-50 within INAO’s delimited area; informative figures. - [Terroir](https://bordeauxreviews.com/terroir/): the soil under Bordeaux, measured on BRGM’s geological map, IGN’s elevation and INAO’s delimited areas; the descent through the layers, the height of a croupe, deep time, the Pomerol clay, the water table, the palus then and now, and the words of the soil. Different, not better. - [Any 2 appellations, side by side](https://bordeauxreviews.com/terroir/compare/): the soil of each at one scale - [Saint-Émilion and Pauillac, side by side](https://bordeauxreviews.com/terroir/saint-emilion-pauillac/): a limestone plateau and a gravel croupe, in a written walk - [The Sky Over the Vines](https://bordeauxreviews.com/terroir/sky/): the Bordeaux sky on a chosen day since 1842, from Météo-France records - [Each appellation, its soil](https://bordeauxreviews.com/llms/terroir.md) ## The classifications Bordeaux has 6 lists of estates, 5 classifications and a selection, and no 2 of them agree. Each page carries the current roll and every revision that list has been through, with the estates that rose, fell, left the list or withdrew, named. - [The Classification of 1855](https://bordeauxreviews.com/classification/1855/): Drawn up by the brokers of the Bordeaux exchange in 13 days for a world fair, and changed 2 times since. 88 estates on the current list. - [The Classification of Saint-Émilion](https://bordeauxreviews.com/classification/saint-emilion/): Made 7 times between 1955 and 2022, annulled once by a court, and the only classification of crus classés in Bordeaux that an estate can lose. 85 estates on the current list. - [The Crus Classés de Graves](https://bordeauxreviews.com/classification/graves/): One rank, no hierarchy, settled in 1959 and never revised. It ranks nothing except whether an estate is classified for red, for white, or for both. 14 estates on the current list. - [The Crus Bourgeois du Médoc](https://bordeauxreviews.com/classification/crus-bourgeois/): Ranked by brokers in 1932, made official in 2003, annulled by a court in 2007, rebuilt as an annual award, and a classification again since 2020. 170 estates on the current list. - [The Crus Artisans du Médoc](https://bordeauxreviews.com/classification/crus-artisans/): The smallest list in Bordeaux, and the only one that classifies the person as well as the wine: 40 of its 100 points are for the work the owner does with their own hands. 33 estates on the current list. - [The Michelin Guide selection](https://bordeauxreviews.com/classification/michelin/): Announced on September 8, 2026 at the Cité du Vin. The first new list of Bordeaux estates since the Crus Artisans of 2006, and the first by a body from outside the wine trade. 83 estates on the current list. ## The study guides One question per page, answered in 1 quotable paragraph and then explained. - [5 lines that will carry you through any Bordeaux dinner](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/5-lines-for-any-bordeaux-dinner/) - [Is Bordeaux dry or sweet?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/is-bordeaux-dry-or-sweet/) - [Should you decant Bordeaux? And for how long?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/should-you-decant-bordeaux/) - [At what temperature should you serve Bordeaux?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/how-to-serve-bordeaux/) - [What food goes with Bordeaux?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/what-food-goes-with-bordeaux/) - [How long can Bordeaux age?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/how-long-does-bordeaux-age/) - [How to hold a vertical or horizontal wine tasting](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/vertical-and-horizontal-tastings/) - [What is a second wine in Bordeaux?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/what-a-second-wine-really-is/) - [What grapes are allowed in Bordeaux?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/the-grapes-of-bordeaux/) - [Bordeaux vs Burgundy: what is the difference?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/bordeaux-vs-burgundy/) - [Is Bordeaux a grape? No, it is a place](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/is-bordeaux-a-grape/) - [What is dry white Bordeaux?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/dry-white-bordeaux/) - [Is vinho bordô the same as Bordeaux?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/vinho-bordo-is-not-bordeaux/) - [What is noble rot, and how does it make Sauternes?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/noble-rot-and-why-sauternes-fills-half-the-bottles/) - [Bordeaux vs Bordeaux Supérieur: what is the difference?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/bordeaux-vs-bordeaux-superieur/) - [What is claret, and why do the English call Bordeaux that?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/what-is-claret/) - [What is a third wine in Bordeaux?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/what-is-a-third-wine/) - [How red Bordeaux is made, from picking to bottle](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/how-red-bordeaux-is-made/) - [Left Bank vs Right Bank: what is the difference?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/left-bank-and-right-bank/) - [How to visit Bordeaux wine châteaux](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/how-to-visit-bordeaux-wine-chateaux/) - [Gravel or clay, and how the soil picks the grape](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/gravel-or-clay/) - [Margaux, Pauillac, Saint-Julien, Saint-Estèphe compared](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/the-4-medoc-communes/) - [Pomerol vs Saint-Émilion: what is the difference?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/pomerol-vs-saint-emilion/) - [Médoc vs Haut-Médoc: what is the difference?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/medoc-vs-haut-medoc-what-is-the-difference/) - [Graves vs Pessac-Léognan: what is the difference?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/graves-vs-pessac-leognan/) - [What is Entre-deux-Mers, and where do its red wines go?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/what-is-entre-deux-mers/) - [What is Côtes de Bordeaux?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/what-is-cotes-de-bordeaux/) - [What are the satellites of Saint-Émilion and Pomerol?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/the-satellites-of-saint-emilion-and-pomerol/) - [Is Barsac a Sauternes?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/is-barsac-a-sauternes/) - [Why Bordeaux vintages vary so much](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/why-bordeaux-vintages-vary/) - [What are the 5 First Growths of Bordeaux?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/the-5-first-growths/) - [Saint-Émilion Grand Cru vs Grand Cru Classé](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/saint-emilion-grand-cru-versus-grand-cru-classe/) - [What are the 6 lists that rank Bordeaux?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/the-6-classifications-of-bordeaux/) - [What does Cru Bourgeois mean on a Médoc label?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/what-cru-bourgeois-means/) - [Why Pomerol has no classification](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/why-pomerol-has-no-classification/) - [What are the super seconds of Bordeaux?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/what-are-the-super-seconds/) - [What does château mean on a Bordeaux label?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/what-chateau-legally-means/) - [How to read a Bordeaux label in 60 seconds](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/how-to-read-a-bordeaux-label/) - [Why is Bordeaux wine so expensive? Most of it is not](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/why-is-bordeaux-wine-so-expensive/) - [Who makes supermarket Bordeaux?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/supermarket-bordeaux-who-made-it/) - [The best Bordeaux vintages from 2000 to 2025, year by year](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/best-bordeaux-vintages-2000-to-2025/) - [How to read wine scores and a Bordeaux vintage report](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/how-to-read-wine-scores-and-vintage-reports/) - [Birth-year Bordeaux: which wines last 21 years?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/birth-year-bordeaux-for-a-child/) - [How to read a cahier des charges, the appellation rulebook](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/how-to-read-a-cahier-des-charges/) - [How to judge an old bottle of Bordeaux](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/judging-an-old-bottle-of-bordeaux/) - [How does Bordeaux en primeur work?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/en-primeur-explained/) - [Which Bordeaux wines do people search for most?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/most-searched-bordeaux-wines/) - [The Bordeaux wine crisis in numbers](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/bordeaux-wine-crisis-in-numbers/) - [What do courtiers and négociants do in Bordeaux?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/courtier-negociant-la-place/) - [How does the fine Bordeaux secondary market work?](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/guides/how-fine-bordeaux-trades-on-the-secondary-market/) - [Each guide with its short answer](https://bordeauxreviews.com/llms/guides.md) ## Appellations What each appellation is: what it covers, and the one thing about it worth knowing. - [The 40 appellations, each with what it covers and the one thing worth knowing](https://bordeauxreviews.com/llms/appellations.md) - [Appellations](https://bordeauxreviews.com/appellation/): the appellations index ## Châteaux The record for each château: its rank and the system that rank belongs to, each checked against the authority named on the page. - [The Médoc communes: Margaux, Saint-Julien, Pauillac, Saint-Estèphe](https://bordeauxreviews.com/llms/chateaux-medoc-communes.md): 115 châteaux - [The rest of the Médoc: Haut-Médoc, Médoc, Listrac and Moulis](https://bordeauxreviews.com/llms/chateaux-medoc.md): 151 châteaux - [Graves, Pessac-Léognan and the sweet wines (Sauternes, Barsac and their neighbors)](https://bordeauxreviews.com/llms/chateaux-graves-sauternes.md): 88 châteaux - [Saint-Émilion and its satellites](https://bordeauxreviews.com/llms/chateaux-saint-emilion.md): 137 châteaux - [Pomerol, Lalande-de-Pomerol and Fronsac](https://bordeauxreviews.com/llms/chateaux-pomerol-fronsac.md): 80 châteaux - [The Côtes, Entre-deux-Mers and the rest of Bordeaux](https://bordeauxreviews.com/llms/chateaux-other.md): 58 châteaux - [Châteaux](https://bordeauxreviews.com/chateau/): the châteaux index, with the map ## How to cite Every case file ends with a "To cite this article" line. Use it. Published corrections are listed at https://bordeauxreviews.com/corrections/. ## Optional - [Everything this index lists, in 1 file](https://bordeauxreviews.com/llms-full.txt): for a reader that prefers 1 fetch - [Articles](https://bordeauxreviews.com/articles/): The longer pieces. The Château Case Files put a claim Bordeaux repeats about itself on trial, 70 in all, and the articles take 1 subject the slow way. - [The Château Case Files](https://bordeauxreviews.com/case-files/) - [News](https://bordeauxreviews.com/news/) - [Tastings](https://bordeauxreviews.com/tastings/) - [Châteaux](https://bordeauxreviews.com/chateau/) - [Trade](https://bordeauxreviews.com/trade/): The Bordeaux trade: négociants, brokers and coopers. - [Appellations](https://bordeauxreviews.com/appellation/) - [Study](https://bordeauxreviews.com/study/) - [RSS](https://bordeauxreviews.com/news/feed.xml) - [Sitemap](https://bordeauxreviews.com/sitemap-index.xml)