Angludet is many people’s touchstone Margaux, unforced and perfumed. It is a former Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel, though the Sichel family who own it no longer choose to present it to the Cru Bourgeois classification. The chateau is set in a bucolic stretch of south-west Margaux, 3 kilometres inland from the river. It owes its roots to a 12th century knight, Bertrand of Angludet, who build his house here. Vines were probably first planted in the 17th century. It looked like that was finally over after the great frost of 1956, when the extreme winter cold killed most of the vines.

Let us not obsess over the position of the sails on the sailing boats as they passed this Chateau on their way to or from the local ports. The label shows the gryphon-fronted longboat that has apparently had the Chinese market in a ferment and more significantly, history records nearly a century and a half of underperformance. Things began to look up in the late 20th century. The mid-eighties saw an extremely important change of ownership as GMF. the French civil servants pension fund, gradually bought the estate before bringing in Suntory as a 40% partner in the business.

Situated on a choice bit of the St-Emilion plateau with a poor, thin, clay topsoil and fossil rich limestone motherlode, this challenging terroir is the birthplace of St-Emilion’s top performers. Canon is a classy, high-wire act. The vineyard is planted 70.30 Merlot/Cabernet Franc, and 10 per cent is on the cotes off the plateau. John Kolasa (ex of Chateau Latour) began the reinvention of Canon when he was appointed by the new owners, the Wertheimer brothers of Chanel.

This fifth growth is one of the very few classed growths from outside the four classic communes of the Medoc. In fact, it barely made it into the 1855 classification at all. The redoubtable then owner Caroline de Villeneuve was incensed to discover that the brokers and negociants she had trusted to manage Cantemerle had neglected to see it included in the classification. She marched down to the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce armed with 40 years’ worth of receipts and commercial documents to prove the prices it was fetching (that being the basic criterion for inclusion).

In 2021, Chateau Cheval Blanc, along with Chateau Ausone, withdrew from the St-Emilion classification. These chateaux alleged doubts about the criteria for (re)classification, claiming a drift away from the pre-eminence on terroir towards a focus on marketing considerations. Some critics implied they were miffed by the prospect of having to share their exalted ‘Premier Grand Cru Classe A’ with more chateau (it had been their exclusive preserve prior to the 2012 promotion of Pavie and Angelus).

Of all the chateaux overlooked in the 1855 Bordeaux classification, few are as deserving as Margaux property Deyrem Valentin. It is well sited, on the same mix of gravel, sand and clay soils that underpin the appellation`s most prestigious addresses. The vines average 40 years old, and there is one parcel where some are almost 100, placing them among the Medoc’s very oldest. The consultant oenologist is Hubert de Bouard, owner of Chateau Angelus. As Jeff Leve notes on thewinecellarinsider, Deyrem Valentin competes with many classified growths for a lot less money.

Between Beychevelle to the north and Latour across the commune boundary to the south in Pauillac, and running almost down to the Gironde, sits one of the clutch of 5 St Julien second growths, Ducru-Beaucaillou. Beychevelle is in fact a parent of Ducru; in 1642, when the British were just getting going on the killing spree now referred to as the English Civil War, the Beychevelle estate was broken up to settle a debt, and one of the resulting parcels would become what is now Ducru-Beaucaillou. The name didn`t come till later.

Durfort-Vivens had a good 19th century. The 1844 was priced higher than any other Margaux wine except Chateau Margaux itself. Commentator, wine connoisseur and future American president Thomas Jefferson rated Durfort-Vivens alongside Lafite, Latour and Margaux. The 1855 classification placed it as a second growth. Things weren’t so good through most of the 20th century. In the 1930s, it was bought by Margaux and used to make that chateau’s second wine. In the 1960s, it was sold on to the Lurton family, but without its chateau.

A visit to Feytit-Clinet is so unlike a visit to most Bordeaux chateaux. It’s not a castle or a stately home, nor are you filtered past receptionists or along mirrored halls. In fact, it’s much more like a visit to Burgundy where the owner stomps out from round the back in welly boots, kicking their kids` toys out of the way as they go. Jeremy Chasseuil lives and works here, and has done since the year 2000 when he took over.

With history building an ownership of three main shareholders, an estate of vineyards split into three distinct plots across Pauillac and the Chateau itself unusually sited in the town docks, Ducasse prospers. Possibly despite the complicated nature of the enterprise. Those three vineyard plots are of fine and homogeneous terroir, all brilliantly sited on deep gravel mounds with some really old vines as well as some more recent replantings as part of the large and ongoing investments.

1855 second growth Gruaud-Larose is very much one of the grander estates in Saint-Julien. It occupies a high point on the Medoc plateau and I can attest it gets windy there; that wind serves to dry the vines and help prevent vine infections. The modernistic viewing tower that divides opinion and stands in angular contrast to the classical chateau does enjoy some far-reaching views of the Medoc.

There are a few things that make Haut-Bailly special. There`s the fact that nearly 15% of the vines are still prephylloxera, that it is one of the few Pessac-Leognan properties not to make white wine, that it has soil that actually contributes to that rare thing in Bordeaux - real sense of terroir. That soil is sandy seabed stuffed with shellfish fossils. As a property it is less than 150 years old and like many Bordeaux estates has seen its fair share of ups, downs and idiosyncratic owners.

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.

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.

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 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.

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. While it is no longer quite that cheap, it is still cracking good value for a fifth-growth property that annually outperforms many officially much higher ranked wines.

On the face of it Ch Meyney has an excellent position on the same gravel ridge as neighbour Montrose on the bank of the Gironde estuary, yet it has never achieved quite the same heights - or prices! It has a longer history than Montrose or many neighbours, being mentioned in the early 16th century nad being taken over by a reforming branch of the Cistercin order. The original buildings burned and the current ones date from 1662.

Pontet-Canet as we know it today dates from the mid seventies. Prior to that it had been owned and mismanaged by a series of impoverished or ignorant duffers. In 1975 it was bought by Cognac producer Guy Tesseron, whose son Alfred is now owner. Equally importantly Jean-Michel Comme was appointed manager and he has taken Pontet-Canet to full biodynamic status and ever increasing heights of quality. And for a fifth growth, it is now one of the most sought after wines in the whole region.