help with french wine

[*newbie*]

Today I purchased several bottles of wines ranging from $12 to $20 bucks. One of them was a French wine. The reason I purchased it was it carried what I thought was a good French rating. However, after I came home and looked in my wine book I was a little confused about the French rating system. The wine in question is a (as it reads from top of label to the bottom) 1998 Chateau, La Grange Clinet, Appellation premieres cotes de bordeaux Controlee, Mis en Bouteille au Chateau. So did I do good or bad? I am still deciding what kinds of wine I like and this is just an extenstion of the tasting process for me. I don't have a ton of $$ in this bottle so it won't bother me if I don't like it. I just want to understand the French "AC" system. Thanks in advance.

Doug