Bordeaux wines are counted among the most famous French wines and known all over the world for their high quality and cost on the market, being some of them among the most expensive wines in the world.
Despite the fact that the common thread of French wine production is the same in all its regions, based on the elevation of the intrinsic identity of the wine and the vineyard, excluding as much as possible the intervention activities both in the vineyard and in the cellar, Bordeaux wines are classified in a different and separate way by indicating on the label, instead of the village of origin, the name of the surrounding Château or part of the area where the vineyard is cultivated.
Its Château are famous in this French region for this very reason, as well as for the great historical and architectural importance that they represent as evidence of past eras.
The production of Bordeaux wines is mainly based on red Bordeaux wines despite the fact that white wines are historically present within the Bordeaux wine culture, however, most of the Bordeaux grape varieties cultivated in the territory, which are the basis for the production of red wines, are much higher in number and differ between Cabernet franc, Cabernet-Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Carmenere.
Production base of white wines, instead, are mainly Sauvignon, Semillon and Muscadelle and, curious characteristic, despite the fact that the red wines of Bordeaux are among the most recognized and sought after in the world among the most expensive bottles of wine in the world we find a white wine of Bordeaux: the Château d'Yquem 1811 purchased in 2010 for $ 117,000.
The most expensive and precious Bordeaux wine, red, is Petrus, extremely famous among the major collectors in the world and an oenological gem that few can count among their collectible wines.
The official classification of Bordeaux wines dates back to 1855 and is still in force and considered valid today, although many consider it outdated and no longer adapted to represent the current situation of Bordeaux wines.
It was requested by Napoleon III on the occasion of the Universal Exposition in Paris in order to present to the whole world the best wines of Bordeaux and it was drawn up by negociants who based the classification on the reputation of the Château and their production cost, at that time value directly proportional to quality.
Today, this concept is the reason why the greatest experts in the field no longer consider the aforementioned classification of Bordeaux wines to be considerable, since the principle of quality cannot be adapted to the results obtained today, and in many cases reversed compared to the past, by the modern wineries of the region.
Despite several attempts to update this classification of Bordeaux wines, no Château decided to adhere to it.
