They are located in the five appellations of origin of the Médoc region: Saint-Estèphe, Pauillac, Saint-Julien, Margaux, Haut-Médoc, with the exception of one château in the Graves region.
Almost all the Grand Cru Classés in this classification come from the Médoc, with the exception of Haut-Brion, which comes from the Graves. There are no other appellations, and the fact that these Grand Cru châteaux come from the Left Bank of Bordeaux and not from Cheval Blanc on the Right Bank, which was already well known in the 18th century, demonstrates the limitations of this classification system. In this classification system, there is also a distinction between wineries of the same level, such as Mouton-Rothschild (Mouton-Rothschild) is the first chair of the second level wineries. However, this practice attracted the discontent of many winery owners.
In September 1855, the Syndicat of Courtiers sent a letter to the Bordeaux Wine Merchants' Association requesting that there should be no precedence of wineries in the same class, and the Association amended the list to include wineries in the same class in alphabetical order, which put the matter to rest.
Since 1855, there have been many changes in the names of wineries, owners, vineyards and even the quality of the wines. There are now 61 wineries in the hierarchical vineyards. Of course, even if a winery changes owners, it will remain a Cru Classé as long as it was once a Grand Cru. The only change was in 1973, when Mouton Rothschild was upgraded from a second growth to a first growth thanks to the efforts of Baron Philippe Rothschild. This led to the formation of what is now known as the "Big Six".
The classification system for sweet white wines: 1 Grand Cru, 11 Premiers Crus and 15 second cru châteaux, which belong to the two appellations of origin, Sauternes and Barsac. The Graves and St. Emilion regions followed suit in the last century, although not in five classes as in the Médoc. All the wineries that have been classified are called Grand Cru Classe and can be seen on their labels.
Owners want to be classified as Grand Cru because it is a good thing for them to be able to do so. Every year when the new wines are sold, the owners discuss with the wine merchants to set a reasonable price for the new wines. As a Bordeaux where wine is the main source of income, the price of the wines determines the development of the Bordeaux economy, and it would be confusing for thousands of chateaux if they had to start from scratch every year, and the scale simplifies the problem at its root, so that, for example, the recognized price of a bottle of wine for a Grand Cru Classe is 100 francs. The price of a bottle of wine, for example, was recognized as 100 francs for a third class winery, and both parties would set their prices accordingly.
The national wine trade was based on this classification system. All owners, merchants and winery staff were familiar with the scale. The scale was originally intended to be customized for the trade, but over time it spread to the community. In the 19th century, the scale appeared several times, especially in books for wine lovers, such as The Complete Chart of the Wine Chateaux, The History of Ancient and Modern Wines, and The History and Present Condition of Contemporary Wines. Whenever this list is reprinted, Bordeaux's châteaux and wine merchants adjust it to the market, and consumers have become accustomed to consulting it to get to know Bordeaux's best wines.
