Last week (or is it two weeks ago – everything got a bit sidelined by the tasting) Liv-Ex published a revised look at the Bordeaux Classification of 1855.
Inevitably any review of this will be controversial, but their methodology is clear and it makes interesting reading. As with the original ranking they base the new line-up on price. The full report can be read here.
La Mission Haut Brion makes it up to First Growth status, Palmer, Pape Clement and Lynch Bages jump to Second Growth and there is a fair bit of jostling for position at the lower end of the ranking. It is particularly interesting to see the Graves wines included.
Of course, the only down side of a study like this is it further discourages our friends in Bordeaux from keeping their prices reasonable if status is to be judged on price alone.
A contrast can be found in the Cornell University reclassification which we wrote about last year which was based on reviewers scores. Some combination of the two is probably a good starting point for a balanced assessment from a purchaser’s point of view.