Today, Tim Atkin released his annual Bordeaux 2016 report. This year, Atkin has included a classification of what he believes are the top 100 chateaux of Bordeaux.
Unlike the official Bordeaux Classification of 1855 and the more recent Liv-ex Classification 2015, which are both based purely on price, Atkin has attempted to classify the wines of Bordeaux on quality. The 100 chateaux are arranged into five categories of 20.
He says that the classification is “intended to be controversial and to provoke some discussion about which are currently the best producers in Bordeaux. It also shouldn’t be taken as gospel.”
Those that have achieved a place in the top category are shown in the table below. Liv-ex has matched these with the average Market Prices of each.
Observations on the full classification:
- All five of the Bordeaux First Growths have earned a place in the first category.
- Three of the four St. Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classe A properties feature in Atkin’s top category. The fourth, Pavie, is out on its own in category three.
- Gloria features among wines in the second tier, ranking it alongside the likes of Cos d’Estournel and Lynch Bages. Its average market price of £300 is less than half of the next cheapest in its group, Leoville Barton, which fetches an average of £620.
- Chanel-owned Canon and Rauzan Segla both achieve spots in the second category. With average prices of £681 and £624 respectively, they are among the lowest-priced in this tier.
- The most expensive wines in each category are:
- 1st: Le Pin (£23,505)
- 2nd: Eglise Clinet (£1,802)
- 3rd: Pavie (£2,467)
- 4th: Violette (£3,178)
- 5th: Valandraud (£1,407)
- Montlandrie is the cheapest wine featured in the classification. Wines from this Cotes de Castillon petit chateau command an average of just £140 per 12×75. The estate was purchased by Denis Durantou of L’Eglise Clinet in 2009 and has received widespread critical acclaim since.
To download Atkin’s full report, visit his website here.
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