Cock et Féret was an important directory of Bordeaux chateaux (wine estates) which initially published in 1845 as Bordeaux, its Wines, and the Claret Country by Charles Cocks, an Englishman who died in 1854.
Féret translated this directory into Bordeaux et ses vins in 1850. He attached particular care to the categorization of wines from the Bordeaux region according to their qualities and value.
A second edition, published in 1868, provided detailed historical testimony on the history of the reputation of various sub-areas, wineries… It also provided an analysis of the intrinsic qualities of the terroirs of the Bordeaux region.
Interestingly, the 1868 edition classified Château Pétrus (one of Pomerol’s most famous wines) as Cru Bourgeois.
Cocks & Féret contribution to Bordeaux wines
This guide editor continues today as just Féret (or Editions Féret) since 1990s and still publishes the famous Bordeaux et ses vins. Many wine professional use it as a guide regarding wines from the Bordeaux region.
Édouard Féret, who managed the house until 1909, drew the map of the different appellations of the Bordeaux vineyard well before the INAO and the AOP system (also known as AOC) came into being in 1935.
For example, the current outlines of the AOC Pessac-Léognan (created in 1987) are faithful to the description given by Bordeaux et ses vins since its first editions in the nineteenth century.
In the same way, the division of Côtes de Bordeaux (officially dating from 2009) is identical to that which Féret had drawn in 1908 in his wine map.
The Féret guide figures in the history of Bordeaux wines as one of the most important contributors to the fame of the famous Bordeaux wine classification established in 1855.
It was also a cornerstone of the export success of Bordeaux wines.
Follow me on my Social Media
Wine is a gourmet treasure, do not abuse alcohol!
None of this content has been sponsored
I did not receive any gifts or free samples that could be related to this article