Orange Is The New Chef

On 7 September, at the Cité du Vin in Bordeaux, The Michelin Guide revealed its first selection devoted to the region’s wine estates, following the inaugural Burgundy edition announced in July. Eighty-three properties enter the guide: nine receive Three Grapes, sixteen Two Grapes, thirty-seven One Grape, while twenty-one join the selection without a Grape distinction.

The result draws a familiar map without merely reproducing Bordeaux’s inherited hierarchies. The Médoc accounts for thirty-five estates, the Right Bank thirty-two, Pessac-Léognan seven, and Sauternes and Barsac nine. First Growths stand beside properties whose reputations have been rebuilt through patient viticulture, precise parcel selection and a gradual move away from extraction. The distinctions acknowledge history, yet much of the story lies in the way these estates are choosing to interpret it now.

For Michelin Guide, the challenge will be to make these Grapes as intelligible as its Stars have become. Wine resists simple equivalence: a bottle changes with the vintage, with age and with the person opening it. By judging estates rather than individual wines, the Guide is attempting to identify continuity within that variation. Bordeaux, with its classifications, reputations and present transformation, offers the most demanding place to test the idea.

Three Grapes – 9 estates

Michelin defines Three Grapes as exceptional producers whose wines can be approached with confidence regardless of the vintage.

• Château d’Yquem – Sauternes: The only Premier Cru Supérieur of 1855 remains the defining reference for botrytised sweet wine, built on severe selection, longevity and precision.
• Château La Conseillante – Pomerol: Under Marielle Cazaux, the estate has moved towards perfume, purity and fluidity, allowing its clay-and-gravel terroir to speak without demonstrative power.
• Château Montrose – Saint-Estèphe: Its elevated position above the Gironde produces wines in which structural force and long ageing remain inseparable.
• Château-Figeac – Saint-Émilion: Its deep gravel soils and unusually strong cabernet presence give Figeac a Médoc-like distinction within Saint-Émilion.
• Château Cheval Blanc – Saint-Émilion: A complex mosaic of gravel, clay and sand supports a parcel-by-parcel approach centred on cabernet franc and merlot.
• Château Lafite Rothschild – Pauillac: Lafite continues to offer one of Bordeaux’s most classical interpretations of cabernet sauvignon, defined by length rather than immediate weight.
• Château Lafleur – Pomerol: Old vines of cabernet franc and merlot give this small family estate a combination of tension, structure and singularity.
• Château Léoville Las Cases – Saint-Julien: The walled Clos beside the Gironde produces cabernet-driven wines whose depth and ability to age regularly approach First Growth territory.
• Petrus – Pomerol: Eleven hectares of blue clay, an intimate knowledge of the vineyard and restrained cellar work form one of Bordeaux’s clearest expressions of place.

Two Grapes – 16 estates

Two Grapes distinguish producers whose quality and consistency place them among the leading interpreters of their terroir.

• Château Angélus – Saint-Émilion: Led by Stéphanie de Boüard-Rivoal, Angélus is returning to a more classical balance while retaining the breadth associated with the estate.
• Château Ausone – Saint-Émilion: Limestone terraces and a high proportion of cabernet franc give Ausone its restrained power and capacity to evolve.
• Château Beau-Séjour Bécot – Saint-Émilion: A major restructuring of the vineyard is refining the expression of its position on the limestone plateau.
• Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion – Pessac-Léognan: Whole-cluster fermentation, gentle extraction and a cabernet franc-led identity have made the urban estate one of Bordeaux’s most recognisable voices.
• Château Palmer – Margaux: Biodynamics, agroforestry and the central role of merlot support wines that combine richness with increasing freshness.
• Château Pichon Baron – Pauillac: A radical reduction in production has sharpened the estate’s focus on structure, concentration and long ageing.
• Château Pontet-Canet – Pauillac: Its early commitment to biodynamics helped change both the vineyard and the texture of its wines.
• Château Canon – Saint-Émilion: Extensive replanting has restored the precision and limestone-borne elegance historically associated with Canon.
• Château de Fargues – Sauternes: The Lur Saluces family maintains a strict approach based on successive selections, concentration and the willingness not to release a wine.
• Château Haut-Brion – Pessac-Léognan: Bordeaux’s historic urban First Growth remains marked by gravel soils, aromatic complexity and an unmistakable identity.
• Château La Mission Haut-Brion – Pessac-Léognan: Facing Haut-Brion across the road, La Mission offers a deeper and more forceful interpretation of a closely related terroir.
• Château Margaux – Margaux: Thin, well-drained gravel soils produce an expression of cabernet sauvignon built on fragrance, finesse and persistence.
• Château Mouton Rothschild – Pauillac: Its singular character joins Pauillac’s power to a cultural identity shaped by the estate’s long relationship with artists.
• Château Pichon Comtesse – Pauillac: Nicolas Glumineau’s gradual refinements have brought greater precision and suppleness to one of Pauillac’s historic references.
• Château Troplong Mondot – Saint-Émilion: Its position on a deep clay dome gives the estate natural density, now interpreted with greater freshness and restraint.
• Vieux Château Certan – Pomerol: Twenty-three parcels across gravel and clay allow the Thienpont family to compose wines of complexity, elegance and longevity.

One Grape – 37 estates

One Grape recognises producers of character and style whose wines are particularly successful in the strongest vintages.

• Château Beauséjour – Saint-Émilion: The Duffau-Lagarrosse property occupies a complete limestone terroir on the slopes below the village.
• Château Belair-Monange – Saint-Émilion: Formed through the union of Bélair and Magdelaine, it draws its identity from a privileged position beside Ausone.
• Château Bellefont-Belcier – Saint-Émilion: Altitude preserves freshness on its south-facing clay-limestone slope above the Dordogne valley.
• Château Branaire-Ducru – Saint-Julien: Its consistency and elegance have long exceeded what its Fourth Growth rank alone might suggest.
• Château Calon Ségur – Saint-Estèphe: A historic walled vineyard is being reinterpreted through extensive restructuring and increasingly precise parcel selection.
• Château Clinet – Pomerol: Ronan Laborde has progressively refined the expression of this compact eight-hectare Pomerol estate.
• Château Cos d’Estournel – Saint-Estèphe: Its imposing gravel rise above the Gironde produces one of Saint-Estèphe’s most powerful and recognisable wines.
• Château Coutet – Barsac: Limestone soils give this Premier Cru a freshness and mineral tension distinct from the broader Sauternes profile.
• Château de Fieuzal – Pessac-Léognan: Forests surrounding its sandy gravel soils help moderate heat and preserve balance in both red and white wines.
• Château Giscours – Margaux: Following periods of unevenness, the estate has recovered the authority its large Margaux terroir can support.
• Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste – Pauillac: A largely contiguous vineyard on the Grand-Puy plateau gives this Fifth Growth unusual coherence.
• Château Jean Faure – Saint-Émilion: Clay soils close to Pomerol and a strong cabernet franc presence shape an increasingly distinctive identity.
• Château Lafleur-Pétrus – Pomerol: Parcels spread between clay and gravel give the estate an intermediate register of depth, fragrance and polish.
• Château Larcis Ducasse – Saint-Émilion: Its limestone and clay slopes beside Pavie provide more of the estate’s character than the plateau above them.
• Château Léoville Barton – Saint-Julien: The Barton family continues to refine its cabernet-led wines without abandoning their classical structure.
• Château Lynch-Bages – Pauillac: Deep gravel on the Bages plateau sustains the generous, structured style that has made the estate a Pauillac landmark.
• Château Sigalas Rabaud – Sauternes: This compact family-owned Premier Cru favours precision and freshness over scale.
• Château Trotanoy – Pomerol: Heavy clay and gravel on the western plateau naturally produce concentrated wines built for long ageing.
• Domaine de Chevalier – Pessac-Léognan: One of the appellation’s rare estates to pursue equal ambition and distinction in both red and white wines.
• Château Berliquet – Saint-Émilion: Since its acquisition by Chanel, the compact limestone property has entered a more focused phase.
• Château Brane-Cantenac – Margaux: Henri Lurton’s continued replanting seeks to bring the estate’s finest gravel parcels more clearly into the foreground.
• Château Canon La Gaffelière – Saint-Émilion: High proportions of cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon distinguish its identity at the foot of the southern slope.
• Château Clerc Milon – Pauillac: Gravel parcels near Mouton Rothschild have gained precision through sustained work in both vineyard and cellar.
• Château Closiot – Barsac: Jean-Marie Guffens has brought a Burgundian white-wine sensibility to a property built through personal conviction rather than inheritance.
• Château Haut-Bailly – Pessac-Léognan: Recent investment has served a consistent vision maintained by Véronique Sanders rather than replacing it.
• Château Haut-Marbuzet – Saint-Estèphe: Outside the 1855 classification, the Duboscq family built one of the Médoc’s most recognisable modern reputations.
• Château L’Évangile – Pomerol: Positioned among La Conseillante, Cheval Blanc, Vieux Château Certan and Petrus, it occupies one of Pomerol’s most coveted sectors.
• Château Lagrange – Saint-Julien: One of the appellation’s largest classified vineyards has undergone a long reconstruction since its acquisition by Suntory.
• Château Langoa Barton – Saint-Julien: The Barton family’s historic Third Growth shares Léoville Barton’s classical philosophy while retaining a quieter identity.
• Château Le Pin – Pomerol: Seven small parcels have grown from Jacques Thienpont’s original hectare into one of Bordeaux’s rarest properties.
• Château Mangot – Saint-Émilion: The Todeschini family has brought increasing attention to the cooler clay-limestone slopes east of the village.
• Château Rauzan-Ségla – Margaux: Under Chanel and Nicolas Audebert, its fragmented vineyard has produced wines of steadily increasing precision.
• Château Rieussec – Sauternes: One of Sauternes’ largest estates demonstrates that scale can coexist with exacting selection.
• Château Smith Haut Lafitte – Pessac-Léognan: Since 1990, the Cathiard family has transformed the property through replanting, investment and sustained environmental work.
• Château Soutard – Saint-Émilion: Restructuring under AG2R La Mondiale has renewed one of Saint-Émilion’s largest historic estates.
• Château Suduiraut – Sauternes: Its gravel slopes near the eastern edge of the appellation now produce wines shaped by a search for greater precision.
• La Mondotte – Saint-Émilion: Just 4.5 hectares of shallow soils over limestone give this elevated vineyard concentration within a tightly defined identity.

Michelin Selected – 21 estates

These properties enter the Bordeaux selection as trusted producers recognised for their consistency and overall quality.

• Château Beychevelle – Saint-Julien: An estuary-facing Fourth Growth whose identity remains tied to its historic ship emblem and measured Saint-Julien style.
• Château Franc Mayne – Saint-Émilion: Its limestone plateau, slopes and underground quarries have been re-examined since the Savare family arrived in 2017.
• Château Lascombes – Margaux: Axel Heinz is leading a stylistic shift away from concentration towards a clearer expression of Margaux.
• Château Bourgneuf – Pomerol: The Vayron family maintains a discreet continuity across nine hectares on the western edge of the appellation.
• Château Cantenac Brown – Margaux: New leadership and recent acquisitions open another chapter for this estate on the Margaux plateau.
• Château Clos Fourtet – Saint-Émilion: Shallow limestone soils and a relatively cool position define this walled vineyard beside the village.
• Château d’Armailhac – Pauillac: Parcels adjoining Mouton Rothschild are helping this Fifth Growth close the gap between its historic reputation and its terroir.
• Château Duhart-Milon – Pauillac: Managed by Domaines Barons de Rothschild Lafite, the estate occupies gravel soils partly adjoining Lafite itself.
• Château Gruaud Larose – Saint-Julien: Its ninety-two-hectare contiguous vineyard is undergoing a detailed reorganisation of plant material and parcels.
• Château Guiraud – Sauternes: A longstanding commitment to organic and biodynamic farming has made environmental practice central to the estate’s identity.
• Château La Clotte – Saint-Émilion: The Vauthier family applies its precise viticultural approach to this small property against the limestone escarpment.
• Château La Tour Blanche – Sauternes: State ownership gives this Premier Cru an unusual position within the historic hierarchy of Sauternes.
• Château Lafon-Rochet – Saint-Estèphe: New ownership since 2021 is reconsidering a well-placed gravel-and-clay vineyard on the Pauillac border.
• Château Larmande – Saint-Émilion: Institutional ownership has supported measured, continuous work at one of the appellation’s longstanding classified estates.
• Château Malescot Saint-Exupéry – Margaux: Its reduced twenty-eight-hectare vineyard retains an important position on the Margaux plateau.
• Château Nénin – Pomerol: One of Pomerol’s larger vineyards has followed a clear upward trajectory since its acquisition by the Delon family.
• Château Pédesclaux – Pauillac: Fifteen years of investment and restructuring have substantially altered the standing of this Fifth Growth.
• Château Quintus – Saint-Émilion: The consolidation of several properties around the former Tertre Daugay has created a new Right Bank identity.
• Château Rocheyron – Saint-Émilion: Peter Sisseck and Silvio Denz founded the estate in 2010 to pursue a restrained reading of the limestone plateau.
• Château Saint-Pierre – Saint-Julien: Henri Martin’s reconstruction of its compact vineyard restored the coherence of this historic Fourth Growth.
• Château Talbot – Saint-Julien: A large, contiguous vineyard in the north of the appellation gives Talbot a scale and consistency that remain central to its character.