Château Margaux, Mouton Rothschild, and the Bordeaux First Growths: A Collector's Guide
There are very few bottles of wine in the world that carry the same weight of history, reputation, and sheer desirability as the Bordeaux First Growths. These five estates -Château Margaux, Château Latour, Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Haut-Brion, and Château Mouton Rothschild - were classified in 1855 by order of Emperor Napoleon III as the finest wines in Bordeaux, and more than 170 years later, that classification remains essentially intact. Two of these legendary bottles are available right now in our cellar at Steves Winestore, Nedlands.
What Makes a First Growth?
The 1855 Classification was created for the Paris World Exhibition, ranking the leading Médoc chateaux by reputation and market price. The five estates granted Premier Grand Cru Classé status - what we now call First Growths - were those whose wines consistently commanded the highest prices in the marketplace. That ranking has proven remarkably durable: the same estates that led the market in 1855 continue to be among the most sought-after and most valuable wines in the world today.
What these wines share is a capacity for extraordinary long-term ageing and an almost incomprehensible level of complexity. A great vintage of Château Margaux or Mouton Rothschild will evolve for thirty, forty, even fifty years in bottle, revealing new layers of flavour and character with each passing decade. They are not just wines - they are living documents of a particular place, a particular vintage, and a particular year in history.
Château Margaux 1989 - The Wine of the Century
The 1989 vintage in Bordeaux is, by any measure, one of the greatest in the region's long history. A hot, dry summer produced grapes of extraordinary concentration and natural sugar, while a warm autumn allowed for perfect, unhurried ripening. The result was wines of legendary richness that were, at the same time, astonishingly elegant - a combination that is exceedingly rare.
Château Margaux, the First Growth from the Margaux appellation in the southern Médoc, has always been prized for its feminine elegance and silky texture. The 1989 is that elegance amplified to extraordinary levels. At over 35 years of age, this wine is now at or approaching its peak: deep garnet with brick rim, an extraordinarily complex bouquet of dried violets, cedar, graphite, black cherries, and sandalwood, and a palate of perfect equilibrium - concentrated yet effortlessly graceful, with a finish that lasts for nearly a minute.
This is a wine for a once-in-a-lifetime occasion. Available at Steves Winestore for $1,800 per bottle.
Château Mouton Rothschild 2007 - Art, History, and Exceptional Wine
Château Mouton Rothschild occupies a unique position in Bordeaux's history. Added to the First Growth classification in 1973 - the only chateau ever to be elevated in the modern era - Mouton is also famous for its tradition of commissioning a celebrated artist to design each vintage label. The 2007 label is by French sculptor Bernar Venet.
The 2007 growing season in Pauillac was considered challenging at the time, with a cool, wet summer initially raising concerns. Yet the Mouton team produced a wine of surprising beauty - more Burgundy-like in its delicacy and aromatic complexity than in power. Now approaching twenty years of age, the 2007 Mouton has come into a genuinely lovely phase: red berries, pencil lead, a hint of tobacco leaf, and a silky, medium-weight palate that is among the most approachable vintages of the chateau in recent memory. For those who find the blockbuster vintages of 2009 and 2010 too dense in their youth, the 2007 is the ideal entry point into the Mouton experience.
Also $1,800 per bottle, and worth every cent.
Building a Bordeaux Cellar: Where to Start
You don't have to begin at the First Growth level to start exploring and collecting Bordeaux. Our cellar also holds a number of excellent Cru Bourgeois and lesser-classified properties that offer extraordinary value. Chateau Chasse-Spleen, Moulis en Médoc 2020 ($100) is a perennial over-performer - consistently delivering Médoc character at a fraction of First Growth prices, and the 2020 vintage has been widely praised for its depth and freshness.
For those ready to move up the ladder, our selection of wines from Saint-Émilion, Pomerol, and Pauillac offers an ideal progression toward the First Growth experience.
Vit Our First Growths Collection at Steves Nedlandsis
Steves Winestore in Nedlands holds what is widely considered one of Western Australia's most comprehensive collections of fine European wine. Our underground cellar, beneath the historic venue on The Avenue, stores rare Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Champagne in ideal conditions. Browse our First Growths collection online or visit us in store to speak with one of our sommeliers about the right bottle for your occasion.
