Wine lovers · Bordeaux · labels
How to read a Bordeaux label
“Grand vin de Bordeaux”, “mis en bouteille au château”, “grand cru”, “cru bourgeois”: some phrases are regulated by law, others guarantee nothing. Here is a Bordeaux label read line by line, then the phrases that most often mislead.
A label, line by line
An imaginary label, laid out like that of a Médoc classified growth. The label text stays in French, as on the bottle. Click a number.
1Grand vin de Bordeaux
2Château L'Exemple
3Grand cru classé en 1855
42016
5Pauillac
Appellation Pauillac contrôlée
6Mis en bouteille au château
- “Grand vin de Bordeaux”. No legal meaning: any Bordeaux can print it. When a château talks about “le grand vin”, on the other hand, it means its first wine, as opposed to the second wine.
- The château name. The word “château” is reserved for an appellation wine made from the vines of a single estate and vinified there. It says nothing about the building: some “châteaux” are a farmhouse.
- The classification. “Grand cru classé en 1855” refers to the classification of the Médoc and Sauternes, fixed since 1855. Saint-Émilion, the Graves and the crus bourgeois have their own: see the Bordeaux classifications.
- The vintage. At least 85% of the grapes were picked that year. The quality of the year counts as much as the château: see the vintage chart.
- The appellation. It sets the area, the grape varieties, the yields. The more precise it is (Pauillac rather than Haut-Médoc, Haut-Médoc rather than Bordeaux), the stricter the rules. Our wines are arranged by appellation, from Pauillac to Bordeaux Supérieur.
- “Mis en bouteille au château” (bottled at the château). The wine was bottled on the estate that produced it. “À la propriété” can mean a cooperative cellar; “par” followed by a name and a town indicates a wine merchant, which is not a flaw in itself.
- Volume, strength, bottler. Compulsory, in the same field of vision as the appellation. The strength is rounded to the half degree. The address is the bottler's, not necessarily the vineyard's.
- Allergens, batch, energy. “Contient des sulfites” (contains sulphites), the batch number and the pregnant-woman pictogram are compulsory. Since 8 December 2023, the energy value also appears on the label; the ingredients and the nutrition table can be given through a QR code.
The phrases that cause confusion
- Saint-Émilion grand cru
- It is an appellation, stricter than Saint-Émilion, not a classification: several hundred wines carry it. The classification is “grand cru classé” or “premier grand cru classé”, revised about every ten years. See our Saint-Émilions.
- Cru bourgeois
- A classification of Médoc châteaux, revised every five years, in three levels: cru bourgeois, supérieur, exceptionnel. It applies to the five vintages it covers, not to the château for life.
- Second wine
- The wine a great château makes from its young vines and the vats left out of the grand vin: same terroir, same team, a much gentler price, ready sooner. Its label often carries the château's name in smaller type. See second wines.
- Bordeaux Supérieur
- The same area as the Bordeaux appellation, with stricter rules (lower yields, longer ageing). “Supérieur” says nothing more.
- Vieilles vignes, réserve, cuvée prestige
- No legal definition for still wine: each producer uses them as they wish. They mean what the château makes them mean, nothing more.
- Medals
- A competition rewarded this wine, this vintage. Their value depends on the competition; the grands crus do not enter.
What does “mis en bouteille au château” mean?
That the wine was bottled on the estate that grew the grapes and made the wine. It is a guarantee of traceability, not of quality: a serious wine merchant also bottles very good wines.
Is “Grand vin de Bordeaux” a sign of quality?
No, the phrase is unregulated. What is regulated is the appellation, the classification and the word “château”.
How do you recognise a second wine on the label?
It has a different name from the grand vin (Pagodes de Cos for Cos d'Estournel, Carruades de Lafite for Lafite Rothschild) and often the words “second vin de” or the château's name in small type. It is rarely classified itself.
Why two labels, front and back?
The law requires certain information to be in the same field of vision; the back label often groups the health information, the batch and sometimes the château's own text. The “official” label is the one that carries the appellation.
Spotted a name, a vintage, an appellation on a label? Ask us whether it is available: we reply with the price within 48 working hours.