#WineWednesdayWisdom: Understand Bordeaux's Classification System

I walked through Liquor's Galore's wine fridge today and I see Grand Cru Classé, first growth, second growth, Bordeaux region. What is it all now? >> [music] >> It all started back in 1855 when Napoleon asked for a ranking system for the visitors by the Paris World Fair for the Bordeaux wines. Renowned brokers got together and they [music] started rating chateaus by their reputation and by their trading prices, which at the time was directly related to quality. So, they ranked the importance from first growth to fifth growth. All of the reds came from the Medoc region from the left bank except for one, which was Graves, also from the left bank. And the only whites they ranked were sweet wines. Only five got to the top of the top of premier cru what they chose, and none of them are kosher yet. Menachem, put your gloves on. Let's get one kosher. Believe it or not, since 1855 they only had three changes. The question is, does it really matter? Is Grand Cru that great? Remember, this only includes wines from the left bank. What about Saint-Émilion? What about all the great Pomerols that we love? They're not in there. So, what did they do? They came up with their own classification systems. You have things like Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé, you have Bordeaux Supérieur, Cru Bourgeois. It's even too confusing for me. But the good thing is when you come into one of our shops, the truth is the managers, yes, they know about the top five classifications, but they'll give you a wine what really tastes good. Of course, you can look at the Pontet-Canet and it's worth a couple hundred dollars, maybe yes, maybe not. And a lot of times it does, but we have great wines for 70 bucks which Napoleon for some reason didn't pick. So, if you want Napoleon's picks, stick to the five wines, but if you want our pick, we have so many wines from so many different places of the world. Of course, included France, too. That's my answer to all these Grand Cru Classé, [music] premium cru, I don't know, Louis Vuitton and Gucci. A brand can only take you so [music] far, but my palate can take you way, way further. So, remember, the more we taste, the more we know. >> [music]