It was not the first publication dealing solely with Bordeaux wines however, in many ways its forerunner is cited as Traite sur les vins du Medoc (1824) by William Franck.

[2] A French translation was proposed by Féret, which led to Guide de l'étranger à Bordeaux et dans la Gironde.

Charles Cocks died in 1854, while the second edition, Bordeaux et ses Vins 2ème édition, appeared in 1868, and the succession of publications provide a useful historical record of the evolution of different properties' and districts' reputations.

[1] Revisions are published to date, usually referred to as "Le Féret", most recently with the 2007 edition of Bordeaux et ses Vins 18ème édition.

The English language translations are titled Bordeaux and Its Wines, with the seventeenth edition published in 2004.