The St Emilion Classification
The 1855 classifications of the Médoc and Sauternes did wonders for the prestige and reputation of highly ranked properties, and with time a good ranking would come to mean higher selling prices, and higher land values. It should come as no surprise, seeing this, that other corners of Bordeaux should wish to emulate this success. An entire century passed before it was achieved, but in 1955 the leading estates of St Emilion were thus ranked, following a long programme of work led by the Syndicat Viticole.
The 1955 Classification
The work towards this classification began as early as 1930, but it did not really take shape until the Institut National des Appellations d’Origine (INAO) agreed to oversee its creation, beginning with a governing decree published on October 7th, 1954. The system laid out was for two broad categories, the upper tier being premier grand cru classé (which is further subdivided into the higher-ranking A and lesser-ranking B categories) and the lower being grand cru classé.
The classification devised would depend on submitted requests for inclusion, rather than the system in 1855 where properties were ranked by local merchants, and the ranking would be based on a tasting of ten vintages from the estate in question rather than pure market value, which was the key factor one hundred years previously. Crucially, it would be open to reassessment every ten years or so, setting it apart from the seemingly immutable 1855 Médoc and 1855 Sauternes classifications.
The initial classification was published on the 16th June 1955 and subsequently amended by decree the following August and October, and the final list was eventually approved three years later, in 1958. This leads some people to refer to it as the 1954 or 1958 classification, but the most widely used date is 1955. There were 12 properties ranked as premier grand cru classé and 63 as grand cru classé, with many châteaux finding a position they would maintain through many future classifications, led by Château Cheval Blanc and Château Ausone (pictured) both classified as premier grand cru classé (A). History does not record any great furore regarding the system, although I am sure some noses were put out of joint, just as they are with the modern-day revisions. At the foot of the page, in the tabbed section, I provide a full list of properties ranked in 1955.
