In the 1855 classification of the Medoc, one wine that was not from the Medoc but rather Pessac was also admitted; Haut -Brion. Its Pessac neighbour La Mission Haut-Brion was not granted a similar special admission. Yet if any wine from Pessac also deserves first growth status, it is La Mission Haut-Brion.

Austere and evasive in youth but deeply profound in age, Lafite is one of the five Medoc First Growths, and one of the two owned by branches of the Rothschild family. It is one of the oldest estates in Bordeaux - the ‘Seigneurie de la Hite’ domaine is noted on a document from 1234, though in those days it was all about cereal and cattle. Vineyards were not seriously laid out here until the 1680s, at the hands of Jacques de Segur, who laid out what would become many of Bordeaux’s great vineyards.

Few Bordeaux chateaux are more associated with a particular colour than St-Estephe fourth growth Lafon-Rochet; both the chateau itself and the label on the bottle are a bright shade of yellow. (It’s worth noting, though, that over in Pomerol Vieux Chateau Certan does own pink). Lafon-Rochet began as an aristocratic home and estate, though (unlike many chateaux) it was not confiscated during the Revolution. The modern world arrived in 1959, when chateau and estate were purchased by the Tesseron family.

After an impressive showing in 1855 that saw it awarded Third Growth status, St-Julien property Lagrange suffered long years of neglect. Swathes of vineyard were sold off, and the chateau itself was gutted in a fire in the 1950s. Things finally began change in 1983, when Lagrange was bought by the Suntory Group and investment poured in. The winemaking facilities were completely modernised. The vineyard was replanted, and with new acquisitions the size of the vineyard doubled from 55 to 118 hectares (on a total 142 hectares of land), making Lagrange the largest estate in St-Julien.

No Bordeaux classed growth has been in the hands of the same family longer than Langoa Barton; it was purchased by Thomas Barton in 1821. Of course, Leoville Barton followed into the family stable soon after, and both properties are now on their eighth generation of Bartons, with Damien Barton now working beside his sister Melanie and their mother Lilian. The two properties are inevitably defined against each other. The Leoville Barton vineyards lie in the north of St-Julien, between the chateau and the river.

Magaux Second Growth Chateau Lascombes has 120 hectares under vine, accounting for 12% of the entire appellation. That makes it the largest estate in Margaux, and one of the largest of any estates to have made it into the 1855 classification. It is also a property that has made a huge mark on the story of the commune. In the 17th century, it sold grapes to Chateau Margaux (and these were recorded as being among the very best quality they received). The high regard in which it was held carried through to the nineteenth century, when it was classed as a Second Growth.

In my tiny mind Chateau Latour always seems the most stolid of the first growths, the most reliable, the one you would want on your side. Yet in recent times their radical decision to abandon the en primeur system went against current thinking and they remain alone in this. Although the estate was founded in the 15th century, the wine entreprise started around 1670. Within 50 years, Latour was building a reputation for quality and there was already over 35 hectares of vines.

One might expect the three Leoville siblings - Leoville-Poyferre, Leoville-Las Cases and Leoville-Barton - to make broadly similar wines. After all, they are neighbouring estates, all in St Julien, all classified as second growths in 1855, and all once part of the very same estate, Leoville, until debt and Napoleonic-era turbulence sundered them. But with different owners and winemakers at each, they can produce radically different wines.

The commune of St Julien may have no first-growths, but it is well served by seconds and fourths (Margaux rules the thirds). Perhaps the most high profile of all St Juliens is `super second` Leoville Barton, consistently producing brilliant, structured wine that barely falls short of the first growths, and for a fraction of the money.

The Leoville plateau has long been recognised as one of the best spots in Bordeaux for producing long-lived, complex, powerful wines. Once upon a time, it was a unitary estate, for a while owned by the Marquis de Las Cases. Then came the revolution, and the estate was seized, and split into three parts, later identified as Las Cases, Barton and Poyferre. Las Cases has the heart of the old estate, the Grand Clos, which sits on gravel soils up to ten metres deep.

Ormes is elms, Pez is the village in St-Estephe where the chateau is located; the elms of Pez. Jane Anson is effusive in her praise; ‘this has become one of the best value and most consistent estates in the whole of Bordeaux, hitting it out of the park from at least the 2014 vintage onwards’. It’s an historical property, reaching back to the sixteenth century; Jean-Charles Cazes bought it in 1940, and it has been in the hands of the Cazes family ever since, benefitting hugely from the overflow of expertise and experience from the family who also own and run the great Lynch-Bages.

Among a certain generation Chateau Lynch-Bages used to be known affectionately as `lunch bags` on the grounds that it was cheap enough to go in one`s lunch bag. Sadly, it is no longer that cheap. (Your lunch bag may vary). But this Fifth Growth is a member of the elite club of Super Seconds, those chateaux that capture how out-of-date some aspects of the 1855 classification has become. It is also quintessential Pauillac, with a high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon and all the gravel, smoke, cedar and cassis one expects in an absolutely classic left-bank Claret.