Saint-Émilion and Saint-Émilion Grand Cru share one vineyard of 5,400 hectares, 700 winegrowers and nine communes around the medieval town. The Grand Cru appellation asks more of the wine: a lower yield, 46 hectolitres per hectare instead of 53, at least ten months of ageing, and a compulsory inspection of every batch. The soils are a patchwork: the limestone plateau, the clay-limestone slopes below it, gravel terraces and sandy plains towards the Dordogne. Merlot leads the blends, with Cabernet Franc beside it and a little Cabernet Sauvignon. In 1999 the jurisdiction of Saint-Émilion became the first wine landscape listed by UNESCO.

The classification is separate from the appellation and, unlike the 1855 classification of the Médoc, it is revised. First published in 1955 with 75 châteaux, it is reviewed about every ten years; the seventh edition, in 2022, lists 71 grands crus classés, 12 premiers grands crus classés and two premiers grands crus classés A, Figeac and Pavie. The Bordeaux wine council describes the wines as smooth, powerful and elegant, with wild strawberry, redcurrant and spice.

The wines above are the Saint-Émilion Grand Cru wines in the cellar, from classified châteaux and from estates outside the ranking. See also the left bank with Margaux and Pauillac, the Pessac-Léognan of the Graves, or the full range of Bordeaux wines.