Guide
5 lines that will carry you through any Bordeaux dinner
Not tricks. 5 true things, each of which opens a conversation instead of closing one.
The short answer
5 things worth knowing by heart: the bank tells you the grape, Grand Cru is an appellation in Saint-Émilion, the Classification of 1855 has changed only 2 times, the second wine is usually the same estate with the best lots taken out, a custom and not a law, and the cahier des charges (the appellation’s official rulebook) settles most arguments.
1. “Left bank or right bank?” is a question about soil
Say it and you have asked the only question that matters early: gravel or clay, Cabernet or Merlot. If someone answers Right Bank and the wine turns out to be Cabernet-led, you have found the interesting part of the evening, because the ground did something unusual there.
2. “Grand Cru in Saint-Émilion is an appellation, not a rank”
The rank is Grand Cru Classé, and there are 71 of those in the list of 2022. Grand Cru on its own means the wine was made to stricter rules: 46 hectoliters a hectare instead of 53, and a longer aging. It is the single most common misunderstanding in Bordeaux and the easiest to clear up kindly.
3. “The Classification of 1855 has only changed 2 times”
Cantemerle was written in on September 16, 1855, 5 months after the first printing, and Mouton Rothschild was raised to first growth in 1973. That is all, in 171 years. Say it and the table will start arguing about which estate deserves promotion, which is the best conversation in Bordeaux and the one nobody can win.
4. “A second wine is the same estate with the best lots taken out”
Not a different vineyard, not a lesser appellation, not a bargain version. The same cellar, the same people, the same year, and the second selection rather than the last, since the strictest houses make a third wine below it. It is the cheapest honest way into a great house, and in a strong vintage it is often the smartest bottle on a list.
5. “That is in the cahier des charges”
Every appellation has a rulebook that says what may be planted, how much may be picked and when the wine may be sold. Almost nobody at the table will have read one. When a question comes up that opinions cannot settle, this is the sentence that ends it, and the answer is usually 1 page away.
And 1 more, for when the bottle disappoints
Bordeaux is a place, not a promise. 7,000 properties make wine here and 88 of them are in the Classification of 1855. A dull bottle says something about that grower and that year. It does not say anything about the other 6,999.
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