Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 resulted from the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, when Emperor Napoleon III requested a classification system for France's best Bordeaux wines that 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 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
History of Bordeaux wine affair between the Bordeaux chateaux, the privateers and the London auction houses to get around the war time politics of the period. In 1725, the spread of vineyards throughout Bordeaux was so vast that it was divided into specific areas so that the consumer could tell exactly where each wine was from. The collection of districts was known as the "Vignoble de Bordeaux", and bottles were labeled with both the region and the area from which they originated. During this period, Nicolas-Alexandre, marquis de Ségur rose to prominence as the "Prince of Vignes" due to his ownership of some of