France’s historical Bordeaux region has range. You can find wines for an incredible value, or splurge on some of the most expensive bottles in the world. While many of France’s wine regions, namely Burgundy, are categorized based on the vineyard site, Bordeaux does things a little differently by basing its entire classification system on specific estates rather than the land itself. This goes back to the 1855 classification of Bordeaux that ranked the properties on the Left Bank into five crus (or “growths”) based on perceived quality. So even though much of the region can offer great bang for your buck — with a basic bottle of red averaging around $15 — the prestigious wines from the top estates can still fetch a pretty penny.
Now, a new report by Wine-Searcher has called out the most expensive bottles of Bordeaux for 2023. And as a surprise to no one, wines from the many first growth estates still dominate the pack in terms of price per bottle. However, six of the wines on this year’s list are from producers on the Right Bank, which was historically left out of the 1855 classification. The fact that the top three most expensive wines this year are from Pomerol might signify that the original classification doesn’t hold quite as much weight as it used to.
