Bordeaux Rendezvous in Washington DC: Heart’s Delight Wine Tasting and Auction 2015
There are a number of classifications of the wines made in the Bordeaux region. Some apply to the whole area, others to just parts of it. The best known is without any doubt the 1855 Médoc Classification. The least known is probably the Liv-ex Bordeaux Classification, which arguably is the most important one. This is a classification of Left Bank red Bordeaux wine based on current prices, compiled by the London International Vintners Exchange (Liv-ex), with a view of updating the 1855 classification. The first one was established in 2009; it was updated in 2011, 2013 and again this year.
Liv-ex is an internet-based trading platform for top-quality wines; it was founded in 1999 by James Miles and Justin Gibbs, who used to be stock brokers. The trading platform is only accessible for professional wine trading houses and wine funds against an annual membership fee.
Medoc Classification of 1855
The 1855 classification was made at the request of Emperor Napoleon III for the Exposition Universelle de Paris. The Brokers returned their classification just two weeks after the original request was made. The Medoc classification of 1855 covers (with one exception) red wines of Médoc.
It ranked the wines into five categories, strictly according to price.
The famous 5 first growths are:
• Château Lafite-Rothschild in Pauillac
• Château Margaux in Margaux
• Château Latour in Pauillac
• Château Haut-Brion in Péssac-Leognan
• Château Mouton Rothschild in Pauillac, promoted from second to first growth in 1973.
And there are:
14 Deuxièmes (2nd) Crus
14 Troisièmes (3rd) Crus
10 Quatrièmes (4rd) Crus
18 Cinquièmes (5th) Crus.
See also:
Bordeaux Wines and their Classifications: The Basics
Liv-ex Classification
In 2009, Liv-ex decided to recreate the 1855 classification, ranking major Left Bank wines in terms of their price. In 2011 and then in 2013, the classification was updated to reflect the market, and now that the market has shifted again Liv-ex once again recreated the classification to reflect current trading conditions.
See also:
The Liv-ex 2013 Médoc Classification
To qualify for the Liv-ex Bordeaux Classification, wines had to be from the Left Bank (including Pessac-Leognan) and be produced in quantities of more than 2,000 cases. Only the first wine of each estate was considered. Liv-ex then calculated the average case price for every qualifying wine for the past five vintages, 2007-2011. Prices are in GBP (1GBP = 1.55US$).
As the brokers did in 1855 Liv-ex split up the wines according to price bands, which for 2015 are as follows:
1st Growths: £2,000 a case and above
2nd Growths: £550 to £1,999
3rd Growths: £350 to £549
4th Growths: £250 to £349
5th Growths: £200 to £249
These price bands were modified from those used in 2013. Liv ex compared the average prices of all wines included in 2013 with the average prices of those in 2015. The average price change was a drop of 18% (with Lafite the biggest loser: minus 41%). This price change has been applied to the price bands used in 2013.
Liv-ex Bordeaux Classification of 2015
Latour remains atop the chart, followed by Lafite Rothschild, Haut Brion, Margaux, Mouton Rothschild and Mission Haut-Brion, all in the 2015 Liv-ex First Growth group.
Upward movers included Haut Bailly (with a decline of just 1% in its average case price from £672 to £677) from 3rd Growth in 2013 to 2nd Growth in 2015.
Malescot Saint Exupery, Grand Puy Lacoste and Domaine de Chevalier all also moved up one ranking from the last 2013 issue, from 4th Growth to 3rd.
Batailley was the biggest riser of all going from fifth to fourth growth status with a leap from 52nd to 41st place on the list.
Marquis Alesme Becker and Croizet Bages were the only wines to drop out of the list.
Chateaux Gloria and Phelan Segur made their first entry, as 5th Growths.
See here for for the full Liv-ex Bordeaux 2015 Classification.
Second Wines
Interestingly, Liv-ex has also put the second wines, none of which existed in 1855, through the same system. See here.
This year, all of the First Growths’ second wines held on to their positions as second growths and remain in the same price order as in 2013. Alter Ego moves from a third to a second growth while four wines newly become fourth growths, and Petit Lion de Las Cases – which first featured on the table in 2013 – drops to fifth.
Right Bank Wines
The 1855 Classification did not include any wines from the Right Bank.
Once again, Petrus, Pin, Ausone, Lafleur and Cheval Blanc have been classed as First Growths in the Liv-ex 2015 ranking. The only wine to move between classifications this year is Angelus. With an average price of £2,019 per 12x75, it becomes a First Growth by a small margin: this year’s boundary is £2,000.
Pavie – which was upgraded to St Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classe A in 2012 alongside Angelus – remains a Second Growth.
See here for more information.
schiller-wine: Related Postings
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Germany-East Wine and Art Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015)
Bourgogne Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015), France
Bordeaux Wine Tour 2013 by ombiasy
An Afternoon at Château Pape-Clément (in 2013), Appellation Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux
Dinner at Château Canon La Gaffeliere, Appellation Saint-Emilion, Premier Grand Cru Classé, France
Visiting a “Holy” Construction Site: Château Angélus in Saint-Emilion, France
Lunch at Château Le Bon Pasteur with Winemaker/Owner Dany Rolland, Pomerol, France
Tour, Tasting and Lunch at Château Beausejour in AOC Puisseguin-St.Emilion, France
Visit of an Ultra-premium Non-mainstream Bordeaux Producer: Tertre Rôteboeuf, with Owner and Winemaker François Mitjavile
Visiting and Tasting at Château Climens, with Owner Bérénice Lurton, Bordeaux, France
Lunch, Tour and Tasting with Owner Catherine Thibault d'Halluin (nee Boyer) and Winemaker Julien Noel - Château du Cros, Château Mayne du Cros, Château Courbon and Clos Bourbon, Bordeaux, France
Visiting an Oyster Farm at Arcachon Bay, Bordeaux: Raphael Doerfler at Earl Ostrea Chanca , France
Tour and Tasting at Château Pontet-Canet, with Owner Alfred Tesseron, Bordeaux
Tour, Tasting and Lunch at Château Léoville-Poyferré, with Didier Cuvelier and Anne Cuvelier, France
A Tour and Tasting at Château Lafon-Rochet in Saint-Estèphe, Bordeaux, with Winemaker and Owner Basile Tesseron (2013), France
A Tour and Tasting at Château Coufran, Haut-Médoc, with Co-owner Frédéric Vicaire, France
Tour and Tasting at Château Lynch-Bages in Bages, Bordeaux, France
Tour at Tonnellerie Berger and Fils: How is a Barrique Made? Bordeaux, France
Wine Dinner at Château Haut-Bailly, Cru Classé de Graves, France
Bordeaux Rendezvous in Washington DC: Heart’s Delight Wine Tasting and Auction 2015
Bordeaux Wines and their Classifications: The Basics
The Liv-ex 2013 Médoc Classification
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