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1. French for “classed growth,” indicating that a château (most often in Bordeaux) is ranked in the top category. 2. The famous Classification of 1855 divided the crus classés for Bordeaux’s Médoc region red wines into five subcategories—premier cru (first growth) through cinquième cru (fifth growth). The white wines of Sauternes were divided into only two subcategories—premier cru and deuxièmes cru (second growth). 3. The term cru classé is also used in a similar fashion when referring to other classifications such as the one established in 1953 for the red wines of Graves, which didn’t create any subcategories but simply listed thirteen crus classés châteaux. In 1959, eight white-wine châteaux in Graves were given cru classé status and—as with the red-wine châteaux—the right to use “grand cru classé” (Great classed growth) on their labels. In the saint-émilion region, there was a 1954 classification (which was revised in 1969 and 1985) that ranked the châteaux in three major categories—premier grand cru classé (First Great Growth Class), grand cru classé, and grand cru. Saint-Émilion’s premier grand cru classé is similiar to the Médoc’s cru classé.