Vinifera: 1855, the classification of Bordeaux wines | Eric Corbeyran, Lucien Rollin

In the late 1840s, English vineyards were afflicted by a strange disease. The appearance of a fine white powder settling on the leaves, and the revelation of a parasite that was about to spread throughout Europe: Oidium. And as it gradually reached the lands of the Médoc, they faced another challenge. For the 1855 Universal Exposition that was being prepared in Paris, the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce decided to compile a list of all the great estates in the region to establish a hierarchy based on a century and a half of informal classification tradition. A ranking from first to fifth growth that, still in effect today, continues to spark debate...