Bordeaux 2011 picture of Christie's Chinese chateau names
Bordeaux 2011 picture of Christie's Chinese chateau names
(Image credit: Bordeaux 2011 picture of Christie's Chinese chateau names)

Bordeaux's classified growths have approved the first-ever standardised Chinese translation of their names, Decanter.com can exclusively reveal.

Auction house Christie’s has unveiled an official translation of each of the 61 chateaux in the 1855 classification, after 12 months of collaboration with the Medoc estates.

Simon Tam, head of wine, China, for Christie’s told decanter.com: ‘We have written confirmation and agreements from all but three or four chateaux that these Chinese translations are the agreed names for the whole Chinese speaking world.

‘We are trying to make wine as accessible as possible for our clients. Language is the first barrier and we are trying to break down those barriers,’ he added.

Christie’s staff have worked with chateaux to agree on Chinese translations for their estate while others already had Chinese names. However, some chateaux including Cos d’Estournel have opted not to take a Chinese name.

The Chinese translations have been published on a poster, which will be unveiled to the Bordeaux trade during the 2012 En Primeur week.

The posters will also be distributed to Chinese clients and journalists ‘to ensure the chateaux will be referred to properly,’ said Tam.

It is too early to tell whether the names will be embraced by other auction houses and the wider wine trade but Tam added, ‘I would like to think that the hard work has been done, and it will be adopted widely.’

Christie’s hopes to produce similar translations for producers in Sauternes, Bordeaux’s right bank and Burgundy in the future.

Written by Rebecca Gibb

Rebecca Gibb MW
Rebecca Gibb MW
Decanter Magazine & DWWA Judge

Rebecca Gibb MW is a wine journalist and editor who has also founded Bamboozled games, ‘the world’s first wine and spirit puzzle makers’. Having spent six years living in New Zealand, she has recently returned to her native north-east England. While in New Zealand, she became a Master of Wine, graduating top of her class and winning the Madame Bollinger medal for excellence in tasting. A former winner of both the UK’s young wine writer of the year and the Louis Roederer Emerging Wine Writer, her first book The Wines of New Zealand was published in 2018. She also runs wine events and has her own consultancy business The Drinks Project. She was a judge at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA).