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 The
Sauternes-Barsac area produces mainly sweet white wines, whose unique
magic and elegance is obtained thanks to the botrytis Cirenea, a
microscopic mushroom, called also "the noble rot".
The Sauternes-Barsac Classification was prepared by brokers from the
wine industry for the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris. They ranked
the wines according to the winerie's reputation and trading price. It is
to be noted that there was no qualitative judgement in the establishment
of this classification as the brokers considered that the market price
was fully representative of a Growth's quality. Since then, the
Sauternes and Barsac historical classification has remained unchanged.
Today, the 1855 classification should more be regarded as a picture of
the situation at the time rather than an indicator of the current wines'
quality. Several estates which, at the time, were not part of the list,
would certainly deserve to be included, i.e. Château de Fargues, which
belongs to the Lur Saluces, the family who managed the famous Château
d'Yquem until 2004. Today, Fargues is considered by many wine experts to
be equivalent in quality to a First Growth. Other examples of excellent
not classified wineries: Gilette, Cru Barréjats, Haut-Bergeron,
Raymond-Lafon and Bastor-Lamontagne.
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Cru Superieur
