Bordeaux 1855 Book Launched in Hong Kong

Jane Anson, Bordeaux Correspondent for Decanter Magazine and author was in Hong Kong over the weekend to launch her new book in collaboration with Lok Man Rare Books and LMC Group Limited.

The book, entitled Bordeaux Legends; The 1855 First Growth Wines was launched at a book signing by the author and tells the story of the top five wines – or first growths – in the 1855 Bordeaux classification.

The 1855 Bordeaux classification was commissioned by Emperor Napoleon III, designed and released in 1855 as a guide, not to the best wines in France at the time, but as a classification of the wineries based on the expense of their wines.

The five first growths are Chateau Lafite, Chateau Latour, Chateau Margaux, Chateau Haut Brion and Chateau Mouton-Rothschild (not an original member of the first growth classification but promoted from a second growth to a first growth in 1973).

The book itself is not just a list of the wineries and their wines”, said Ms. Anson over a glass of wine during the launch. “It is a comprehensive look at the wineries through stories on the wineries, the Bordeaux wine trade and the personalities who shaped it”.

The separate stories of each chateau are woven together into one sweeping saga from their early days as Seigneuries owned by some of France’s most powerful families to the dramas of the French Revolution, the 1855 Paris Exhibition which saw them crowned as First Growths, and the determined efforts which saw Mouton Rothschild join them more than a century later.

Alongside methodical primary research are anecdotes and lively historical detail, enriched by lavish photographs taken by award-winning photographer Isabelle Rozenbaum exclusively for the book, and first-hand accounts from the chateaux owners, directors and staff, as well as those who work with them in Bordeaux, London, Hong Kong, the United States and further afield.

Academy-award winning director and owner of Napa’s Inglenook estate, Francis Ford Coppola, writes the foreword and gives an insight into what these five chateaux mean to those striving to make exceptional wines themselves.

This Christmas, get your wine loving loved one something they too can love and cherish (and it will keep them quiet for a day or so whilst reading it!). The book is available solely through LMC Group here in Hong Kong so if you want to get your hands on one of the few copies here (there are more on the way) then get in touch with Alice Wong at alicewong@lmchk.com

Lok Man Rare books is situated at 6 Chancery Lane in Central and has a host of intriguing books from days gone by on offer. Look out for our interview with owner Lawrence coming up soon about a special lot of antique wine books they have on sale.

LMC Group Ltd, Suite 2903, 29^th Floor, Shui On Centre, 6-8 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong.