fine wine ?????

Actually, fine wine means some wine which is having aging potental and good quality. Normaly most of the wine drinker means some wine come from French Brodeaux, It is based on 1855 Medoc classification. They have 5 level classic cru .
The Bordeaux Classification of 1855 came about when wine brokers were asked to create a classification of the wines of Bordeaux. They only included the top wines of the Medoc (except for the inclusion of Chateau Haut Brion from the Graves region). The rating was based (mostly) on the price that the wines were bringing in the market and it divided these top wineries into 5 classifications. These classifications are known as 'Growths'. The only change in this classification of these wineries since that time has been the elevation of Chateau Mouton-Rothschild in 1973 from 2nd Growth to 1st growth status. Some Chateaux are now producing wines that deserve a higher classification and others deserve a lower rating. There are many more Chateaux that were not included in the 5 classifications.

The classified chateaux are responsible for nearly 1/4 of of the wine production in the Medoc.

Premier grands crus classes
(First Great Growths)

Chateau Lafite-Rothschild (Pauillac)


Chateau Latour (Pauillac)


Chateau Margaux (Margaux)


Chateau Mouton-Rothschild (Pauillac) Elevated in 1973


Chateau Haut-Brion (Pessac)

Deuxieme grands crus classes

(Second Great Growths)

Chateau Brane-Cantenac (Cantenac-Margaux)

Chateau Cos-d'Estournel (Saint-Est谨e)

Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou (Saint-Julien)

Chateau Durfort-Viviens (Margaux)

Chateau Gruaud-Larose (Saint-Julien)

Chateau Lascombes (Margaux)

Chateau Leoville-Barton (Saint-Julien)

Chateau Leoville-Las-Cases (Saint-Julien)

Chateau Leoville-Poyferr鼯font> (Saint-Julien)

Chateau Montrose (Saint-Est谨e)

Chateau Pichon-Lalande (Pauillac)

Chateau Pichon-Longueville Baron (Pauillac)

Chateau Rauzan-Segla (Margaux)

Chateau Rauzan-Gassies (Margaux)

Troisieme grands crus classes

(Third Great Growths)

Chateau Boyd-Cantenac (Cantenac-Margaux)

Chateau Calon-Segur (Saint-Est谨e)

Chateau Cantenac-Brown (Cantenac-Margaux)

Chateau Desmirail (Margaux)

Chateau Ferriere (Margaux)

Chateau Giscours (Labarde-Margaux)

Chateau d'Issan (Cantenac-Margaux)

Chateau Kirwan (Cantenac-Margaux)

Chateau Lagrange (Saint-Julien)

Chateau La Lagune (Ludon)

Chateau Langoa-Barton (Saint-Julien)

Chateau Malescot-Saint-Exupery (Margaux)

Chateau Marquis d'Alesme-Becker (Margaux)

Chateau Palmer (Cantenac-Margaux)

Quatrieme grands crus classes

(Fourth Great Growths)

Chateau Beychevelle (Saint-Julien)

Chateau Branaire-Ducru (Saint-Julien)

Chateau Duhart-Milon-Rothschild (Pauillac)

Chateau La Tour-Carnet (Saint-Laurent)

Chateau Lafon-Rochet (Saint-Estephe)

Chateau Marquis-de-Terme (Margaux)

Chateau Pouget (Cantenac-Margaux)

Chateau Prieure-Lichine (Cantenac-Margaux)

Chateau Saint-Pierre (Saint-Julien)

Chateau Talbot (Saint-Julien)



Cinquieme grands crus classes

(Fifth Great Growths)

Chateau Batailley (Pauillac)

Chateau Belgrave (Saint-Laurent)

Chateau Camensac (Saint-Laurent)

Chateau Cantermerle (Macau)

Chateau Clerc-Milon (Pauillac)

Chateau Cos-Labory (Saint-Estephe)

Chateau Croizet-Bages (Pauillac)

Chateau d'Armailhac (was Chateau Mouton d'Armailhac (Pauillac))

Chateau Dauzac Labarde (Margaux)

Chateau Grand-Puy-Ducasse (Pauillac)

Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste (Pauillac)

Chateau Haut-Bages-Liberal (Pauillac)

Chateau Haut-Batailley (Pauillac)

Chateau Lynch-Bages (Pauillac)

Chateau Lynch-Moussas (Pauillac)

Chateau Pedesclaux (Pauillac)

Chateau Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)

Chateau du Tertre Arsac (Margaux)

區別好酒、壞酒的四大基本準則﹕
- 香氣 (smell /aroma)
- 深度 (depth)
- 複雜性 (complexity)
- 收結 / 回香 / 餘韻 (finish / after-taste / lingering / length)

口味這東西，其實各人各異。固然有人喜愛新世界(New World) 葡萄酒的直接明快；也有人 喜愛如法國波爾多紅酒細膩、含蓄特質的傳統擁戴者(惜當中不乏附庸風雅者)。

話雖如此，一套既得專家推祟，又為普羅大眾接受的基本評賞準則，在葡萄酒界中還是存在的。



香氣 (aroma / smell)
喝葡萄酒前，專家很喜歡用鼻子聞一聞酒所散發的香氣。愈香當然愈好。色香味俱全這道理，古今中外，都沒有分別。

值得留意的是，有些葡萄酒香氣還包含複雜性，譬如在為時十秒的聞香過程中，第一秒和第五秒及第十秘的感覺可能不盡相同。

簡言而之，量、強度及複雜性愈高，香氣質素愈高，而葡萄酒的整體價值亦提高了。

深度 (depth)
葡萄酒在口腔中停留時的一面。
喝葡萄酒如啤酒般痛快，簡直是暴殄天物。好的葡萄酒，入口後不應立刻吞下，而應用舌頭四周輕輕撩動(別心邪!)，細心感受酒的味道。隨著時間增長，依然能繼續保持相約程度的味道，更好的酒甚至味道會逐漸增強；直至某個時間味道開始有減弱的跡象，此時方應吞下葡萄酒。

複雜性 (complexity)
葡萄酒在口腔中另一特性
要嘗出葡萄酒味覺的複雜性，方法如品嚐其深度(depth)一樣，酒入口後不應立刻吞下，而應活動舌頭細細品味。

上等葡萄酒，味道一定有二種或以上，第一次活動用舌頭，你可能感覺到黑加倫子(black currant) 味；第二次則有士多啤梨味；第三次則甚至有近似菠蘿的味道!!

自古以來，專家常苦心思量，尋找其他食物味道去形容一支複雜的葡萄酒。但味道這東西真的可以有100%準確的字眼去形容嗎? 曉莊遜(Hugh Johnson)就批評過他的同行們濫用食物味道詞語來描述葡萄酒的不專業態度。

收結 / 回香 / 餘韻 (finish / after-taste / lingering / length)
故名思義，餘韻指的是吞下葡萄酒後，餘留在口腔中的一點點葡萄酒繼續對味蕾產生的味道。

中國人喝完一杯好茶後，會用『齒頰留香』去形容。 同樣道理亦適用於葡萄酒。