RESERVE WINES

. . . old world style . . . new world know-how . . .

Bordeaux has been the largest and most popular wine region in the world for more than two thousand years.

Divided by the river Gironde, Bordeaux is classified in two parts, the Left Bank, on the Atlantic Ocean side, which is famous for wines dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon and the Right Bank, which produces wines that have a larger percentage of Merlot.

Classification of 1855

The most desirable Left Bank Bordeaux wines were listed in the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 resulting from the 1885 to 1889 Exposition Universelle de Paris, when Emperor Napoleon III requested a classification system for France's best Bordeaux wines that were to be on display for visitors from around the world.


Paris World Exhibition350x350

Premier Crus

Premier Crus 350x350

Wine industry brokers ranked the wines from first to fifth growths (crus) and four Château were awarded First Growth ranking.

  • Château Lafite Rothschild
  • Château Latour
  • Château Margaux
  • Château Haut-Brion
After decades of intense lobbying by Philippe de Rothschild, in 1973, Château Mouton Rothschild was elevated to a first growth vineyard.

The Grand Experiment


Visiting with our French wine industry friends we were able to review years of the blending formula from each Premier Cru Chateau. To this data we applied our forty years experience in making exceptional Bordeaux-style wines to our new Reserve wines program using the finest fruit from our award-winning Napa and Sonoma vineyards.

Blending 350x350

The Reserve Wines


Reserve wines labels

Choosing only our best barrels from the excellent 2014 vintage we blended our Reserve wines - four left bank and two right bank.

While following the blueprints of our French counterparts we had no desire make simple copies. We maintain constant focus on developing our own style, favoring natural complexity of the California fruit with a touch of the covert opulence you would expect from appropriately aged Bordeaux Premier Cru.

Dawn and Bill will tell you their winemaking philosophy can be summed up in one sentence - "We do everything possible to make each vintage of red and white wine worthy of our magnificent Northern California terroir and to perpetuate our tradition of excellence."

WILLIAMSON RESERVE BORDEAUX 1885 PREMIER CRU STYLE WINES
CLICK ON THE WINE NAME FOR BACKGROUND
Inspire ~ Château Lafite-Rothschild
Ingénue ~ Château Mouton-Rothschild
Interlude ~ Château Latour
Impulse ~ Château Margaux
Intrigue ~ Château Haut-Brion
Cherish ~ Château Cheval Blanc
Ravish ~ Château Petrus

NOTE: Williamson Wines is not affiliated with any of the French First Growth Châteaux. These wines are solely the work of Williamson Wines and represent our homage to the greatest wines of France. As such they are separate and distinct wines and should not be construed to represent any other winery or their wines.