12 Essential Bottles of Bordeaux [Timeline]
Bordeaux is one of the world’s most famous wine regions, with drinkers the world over infatuated with its juicy red blends, crisp whites, and supple dessert wines. Beyond producing some of the most sought-after bottlings around, Bordeaux’s popularity, in large part, comes from the fact that it essentially defined what it means to be a fine-wine region with the 1855 Classification of Bordeaux. The system, which groups producers based on the quality of their wines, is still in place today and has allowed Bordeaux to become the world’s largest fine-wine region by volume.
But winemaking in Bordeaux certainly didn’t start with the 1855 Classification, nor was it the only monumental shakeup in the area’s centuries-long history. Grapes have been cultivated there since the time of the ancient Romans, and many châteaus still standing today boast histories dating back to the Middle Ages. Some of these wineries even produced wines beloved by American revolutionaries and eventual presidents. And today, historic and new estates alike both craft some of the most illustrious Bordeaux bottlings, with some retailing for eye-watering sums.
Here, we’ve traced Bordeaux’s evolution over the centuries by spotlighting 12 instances that helped elevate the region to its current luxury status. From a world-famous sweet wine going full steam ahead on noble rot grapes to yet another classification system a century after 1855, here are 12 momentous bottles of Bordeaux.
1787: A Coveted Bottle Collected by Thomas Jefferson
Bottle: Château Margaux 1787
Winemaking on the Château Margaux property dates back to the 12th century, though it wasn’t until the late 1500s that the vineyard would start producing the Bordeaux-style wines we know today. And those wines went on to be adored by one Thomas Jefferson. While serving as Minister to France from 1785 to 1789, Jefferson was introduced to several French wines and attempted to create a classification system of his own. At the top? Château Margaux, of which he allegedly wrote “there couldn’t be a better Bordeaux bottle.” One of the most iconic bottles to come from the producer is from its 1787 vintage and was believed to have been a part of the third president’s personal collection. The story of this wine, valued at a whopping $500,000, came to a tragic close in 1989 when it crashed off a tray and broke during a showing in New York City.
1847: A Prestigious Sweet Wine Goes All In on Noble Rot
Bottle: Château d’Yquem Sauternes
Reds might account for most of the wine produced in Bordeaux, but the region is also known for its world-class dessert wines, none of which is more famous than Château d’Yquem. The modern history of the Sauternes château traces back to the 16th century when Jacques de Sauvage was granted feudal tenure. The Sauvage family turned Château d’Yquem into the paragon of sweet wine it is today, converting all of the estate’s vineyards to white wine plantings. In 1785, the property was handed over to the Lur Saluces family via marriage, and they went on to control operations for the next two centuries.
It was the Lur Saluces who then made the pivotal decision in 1847 to focus solely on dessert wine production, deliberately seeking out grapes infected with noble rot for this purpose. They were the first in Sauternes to do so, and, while it was a risk, it clearly paid off. Twelve years later, Russian Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich — brother of Tsar Alexander II — purchased a barrel of the 1847 vintage for 20,000 gold francs (~$258,000 today), making it the most expensive wine purchase ever at the time. Today, a single bottle of 1847 Château d’Yquem can retail for over $100,000.
1855: The 1855 Classification of Bordeaux
Bottle: Château Haut-Brion
By the mid-1800s, France had already established itself as one of the world’s best wine-producing countries and had already been exporting its vintages for centuries. Yet there was no real way of classifying the country’s best wines, a fact that Emperor Napoleon III sought to change. In 1855, he invited the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce to set up an exhibition at that year’s Universal Exposition in Paris. There, wine professionals tasted the area’s finest bottlings, ranking 58 of the best producers from first to fifth growth, with the most prestigious labeled as first growth (Premiers Crus). Only four estates were granted first-growth status in 1855: Château Latour, Château Margaux, Château Lafite Rothschild, and Château Haut-Brion. Of the bunch, Château Haut-Brion is the only one located outside the Médoc to receive the prestigious designation. Since 1855, only two changes have been made to the initial ruling — the addition of Château Cantemerle as a fifth growth in 1856 and the promotion of Château Mouton-Rothschild from second to first growth in 1973.
1868: Rothschild Family Purchases Historic First-Growth Estate
Bottle: Château Lafite Rothschild 1869
While the Rothschilds are most famous for their prolific banking enterprise, the family is equally influential in the wine sphere — especially in Bordeaux. While the clan first entered the industry in 1853 when Nathaniel de Rothschild purchased Château Brane-Mouton (now Château Mouton-Rothschild), 1868 marked the beginning of their fine wine pursuit. That year, Baron James Mayer Rothschild purchased the newly minted first-growth Château Lafite for 4.4 million francs (~$25 million today) at auction and promptly renamed the estate Château Lafite Rothschild. Under the Rothchild’s leadership, the Château has continued to thrive, with a bottle of the 1869 vintage going for a whopping $233,972 at a 2010 auction in Hong Kong. At that point, it was the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold. Today, the Rothschild family is still at the winery’s helm — its sixth generation currently leads operations.
1878: A Pomerol Wins Big at the Paris Exposition
Bottle: Petrus Pomerol
Though the 1855 Classification of Bordeaux undoubtedly helped skyrocket Bordeaux to global popularity, it only encompassed Left Bank red wines, Sauternes, and Barsac’s dessert wines. The region’s massive Right Bank was left out entirely, which often meant that its wines were overshadowed by their Left Bank counterparts. That was until 1878 when a bottle from the now-prestigious Pomerol AOC wowed judges at the Paris Exposition. That year, a bottle of Petrus took home the gold medal, allowing the producer to price its wines at the same level as a second-growth estate. It was the first Pomerol to do so, which brought widespread attention to not just Petrus, but the appellation as a whole. The zone was granted AOC status in 1936, and Petrus, which was founded in the 1830s, still serves as its most revered wine.
1945: Introduction of Artists on Wine Labels
Bottle: Château Mouton-Rothschild 1945
Artist collaborations with alcohol brands are fairly common nowadays — just look at the success of the Absolut Perfection campaign — but in Bordeaux, the trend started in 1945 with Château Mouton-Rothschild. At the time, the winery was owned by Baron Phillipe Rothschild, an art lover who had tried to incorporate artist-created labels 21 years prior, but consumers then displayed little interest. In 1945, the baron tried again, commissioning French artist Philippe Jullian to design a label celebrating the defeat of the Axis powers in World War II. The label featured the now legendary “V” for Victory symbolism, with text in the mouth of the “V” reading “Année de la Victory” — the year of victory. It’s a mere coincidence that 1945 also proved to be one of the best vintages in Bordeaux’s history. The partnership marked the start of an impressive stretch of commissioned art for each of Château Mouton-Rothschild’s vintages, with some of the most sought-after bottles featuring labels designed by Salvador Dalí (1958), Andy Warhol (1975), Keith Haring (1988), and Jeff Koons (2010).
1947: One of the Best Bordeaux Wines of All Time Is Made
Bottle: Château Cheval Blanc 1947
There are legendary Bordeaux vintages and then there’s 1947. And while there are a number of standout bottles from that year’s production, none hold a candle to Château Cheval Blanc. Producers know this — Emmanuel Despujol, the former owner of Pomerol’s Château Nenin, is famous for allegedly saying “there’s no point in fighting the Cheval Blanc 1947. It’s by far the best of all.” Located on the border of Saint-Émilion and Pomerol, the Right Bank estate was officially established in 1852 and quickly made a name for itself, winning medals at the universal exhibitions of London, Paris, and Anvers. But after World War II, the winery — as well as the surrounding Bordeaux region — struggled to recover. Against all odds, the ’47 vintage proved to be a spectacular saving grace for Cheval Blanc.
That summer was incredibly hot, which withered grapes and lowered yields. Then there was a lack of oak barrels, bottles, labels, and corks, all of which made aging and packaging wine difficult. As such, it’s likely that 1947 Château Cheval Blanc, known for its high ABV and volatile acidity, matured in pre-war barrels. Made from a blend of 50 percent Cabernet Franc and 50 percent Merlot, the wine’s flavor is often compared to port and fetches a pretty penny at auction. In 2013, a six-bottle case sold for $181,150 — $252,000 in today’s money.
1955: The 1955 Classification of Saint-Émilion
Bottle: Château Ausone
While the 1855 Classification of Bordeaux may have only encompassed the Left Bank and Sauternes, one Right Bank AOC introduced a system of its own in 1955: Saint-Émilion. Unlike the wider Bordeaux rubric that groups producers into five tiers, the 1955 Classification of Saint-Émilion uses only two — Grand Cru Classé and Premier Grand Cru Classé. The latter group, which is the higher of the two, identifies producers as A or B, with A serving as the cream of the crop. Within the original classification, only two producers were granted Premier Cru Classé A status, Château Cheval Blanc and Château Ausone. The latter, established in the 18th century, is known for its luscious blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot, bottles of which retail for hundreds of dollars. The list is reclassified roughly every 10 years, and both Cheval Blanc and Ausone were included among the highest ranking until 2022, when both producers withdrew from the classification entirely, pointing to issues with judging criteria.
1979: A Cult Wine Makes Its Debut
Bottle: Le Pin
Le Pin is a relatively new Bordeaux producer that was established in 1979 by the Theinpont family when they purchased a minuscule plot in Pomerol. Rather than using the fruit from this vineyard to craft wines for Vieux Château Certan, which the family also owned, Jacques Thienpont made the decision to create a new brand, and Le Pin was born. Despite its comparative youth, the label’s wines are often regarded as some of Bordeaux’s best, with bottles often going for prices four times higher than some comparable Left Bank first growths. The driving force for the wine’s high price is its minuscule production size: Le Pin’s singular plot measures only 2.7 hectares, or roughly 6.5 acres. Moreover, the winemaking team only proceeds with vinifying yields in select vintages. In years the 100 percent Merlot wine is produced, only about 7,000 bottles are made.
1982: The Vintage That Popularized Bordeaux in the U.S.
Bottle: Château Latour 1982
While Bordeaux had already made a name for itself in Europe, it wasn’t until the 1980s that it started breaking into the mainstream in the U.S. In the spring of 1983, a young Robert Parker went against the wine-critic grain, proclaiming 1982 to be one of Bordeaux’s best vintages in decades. While other critics weren’t disparaging the vintage, many found it to be too plush and approachable in its youth, a sign that it wouldn’t age well. In the end, Parker was proven correct. The declaration came just a few short years after Parker debuted his revolutionary point system and featured some of the first 100-point reviews, including Château Mouton-Rothschild and Château Latour. The latter hails from Pauillac and is known for containing a juicy blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petite Verdot. Today, bottles of the stuff retail for as much as $6,000. Parker’s reflection on the 1982 vintage skyrocketed him to relative fame and solidified his position as the generation’s most influential voice in wine. While Parker is now retired, his reviews guided wine sales for decades, with any high-scoring bottle almost immediately selling out or drastically increasing in price.
2013: Iconic Chef Collaborations Hit the Market
Bottle: Le Secret des Grands Chefs 2009
While some of Bordeaux’s most iconic bottles originate from one singular producer or vineyard, others, like Les Secret des Grands Chefs, come from multiple. Launched in 2013, the label features four distinct wines, each made in collaboration with a distinguished French chef and hailing from a distinct region. Alain Dutournier’s, for example, is a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, while Bruno Ménard’s comes from Pauillac, and Frédéric Anton’s from the Médoc. Yannick Alléno’s, which is the most expensive of the four, is a Pomerol, and regularly sells for over $1,000. The wines were all released in limited quantities on an allocation-only basis, hence their high price tags.
2025: A Historic Estate Quits the Appellation
Bottle: Château Lafleur
Established by Henri Greloud, Château Lafleur has been producing wine from a 4.5-hectare (11-acre) plot in Pomerol since 1872. The château’s wines are made from a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, and production previously adhered to both the Pomerol and Bordeaux AOCs’ strict regulations, but that all changed last year. In August 2025, the Guinaudeau family — descendants of Greloud who have had sole ownership of Lafleur since 2002 — sent out a memo announcing that the château would no longer produce wines in accordance with appellation guidelines. Instead, beginning with the 2025 vintage, all Château Lafleur will be labeled Vin de France. The move gives the producer the freedom to experiment with grape varieties, farming techniques, harvesting times, and vinification methods, allowing it to produce on its own terms, rather than those outlined by both AOCs. It was a shocking announcement from one of the region’s top producers that perhaps indicates where the region is headed: The estate’s owners pointed directly to climate change and increased appellation restrictions as the reason for their decision.
*Image retrieved from JPchret via stock.adobe.com
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