"describe grapes, wine or cognac, the term is not technically a classification of wine quality ""per se"", but is intended to indicate the potential of the vineyard or ""terroir"". It is the highest level of classification of ""Appellation d'origine contrôlée"" (AOC) wines from Burgundy or Alsace. The same term is applied to ""Châteaux"" in Saint-Émilion, although in that region it has a different meaning and does not represent the top tier of classification. In Burgundy the level immediately below grand cru is known as premier cru, sometimes written as ""1er cru"". Early Burgundian wine history is distinctly marked by the"
"Cru (wine) Cru is ""a vineyard or group of vineyards, especially one of recognized quality"". It is a French wine term which is traditionally translated as ""growth"", as it was originally the past participle of the verb ""croître"" (to grow). As a wine term it is closely connected to terroir in the sense of an ""extent of terrain having a certain physical homogeneity . . . considered from the point of view of the nature of the soil as communicating a particular character to its produce, notably to wine"". It may thus be defined as: ""Terroir as a place of"
"for the hills to the west of Beaune. Individual 'village' appellations are the next step up, followed by the Premiers Crus, which roughly correspond to individual vineyards that aren't good enough for Grand Cru status. ""Premier Cru"" on its own refers to a blend from several premier cru vineyards, wine made from just one location will say ""Premier Cru"" followed by the name of the vineyard. The ""Cortons"" in Aloxe-Corton are the only Grand Cru red wines in the district. The same commume has one of the great white wines in the Grand Cru of Corton-Charlemagne (which extends into Pernand"
"The best of the best wines were assigned the highest rank of Premier Cru; only four wines, Château Latour, Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Margaux and Château Haut-Brion were deemed worthy. Of all the 61 great classified wines, all but one came from the Médoc region. The exception was the premier cru Château Haut-Brion, produced in Graves. The 1855 list remained unchanged for over a hundred years until finally Mouton Rothschild was promoted to Premier Cru status in 1973, after decades of relentless lobbying by its powerful owner, Baron Philippe de Rothschild. Of lesser importance, in 1988 the premier cru Château"
"regardless of the wine's producer. This focus is reflected on the wine's labels, where appellations are most prominent and producers' names often appear at the bottom in much smaller text. The main levels in the Burgundy classifications, in descending order of quality, are: ""Grand crus, Premier crus"", village appellations, and finally regional appellations: Chablis wines are labeled using a similar hierarchy of ""Grand Cru, Premier Cru"", and Village wines, plus ""Petit"" Chablis as a level below Village Chablis. Wines from Beaujolais are treated still differently. In general, producers are always allowed to declassify their wine in steps to a lower-ranked"
"the château is one of the classified growths in the regions. In Saint-Émilion, the term ""cru"" is of little importance because it bears little relation to quality. For Provence the term ""cru classé"" is included only for historical reasons. On the other hand, the use of the term ""cru"" in Switzerland has no foundation and it is included at the producer's discretion. To better reach the market of blind or sight-impaired wine consumers, labels have appeared printed in Braille. Currently the only known winemaker to print all their labels in Braille is Chapoutier winery in France, who began the practice"
"First Growth First Growth () status is a classification of wines primarily from the Bordeaux region of France. The need for a classification of the best Bordeaux wines arose from the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris. The result was the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, a list of the top ranked wines, named the Grand Crus Classés (Great Classified Growths). With several thousand different Chateaux producing their own wines in Bordeaux, to be classified was to carry a mark of high prestige. Within the Grand Cru Classé list, wines were further ranked and placed in one of five divisions."
"classification as a ""Premier Cru"". In late 1990s, Peppercorn and his wife created controversy when they questioned the authenticity of imperial (6 liter) bottles of Château Pétrus from the 1921, 1924, 1926, 1928 and 1934 vintages that were served at collectors' wine tasting events in 1989 and 1990. The tastings were conducted from the collection of Hardy Rodenstock, a German wine collector who later was embroiled in a counterfeit wine controversy involving a bottle reported belonging to Thomas Jefferson. While Peppercorn's and Sutcliffe's concerns were never proven, and were disputed by Rodenstock, the current manager of Château Pétrus, Christian Moueix,"
"on new assessments of quality. For each new release of the classification, wines may be promoted or demoted within the list. A wine may even be removed entirely, while other unclassified wines may be added. In 2006, for example, eleven wines were removed from the list, six new wines added, and two existing wines promoted to a higher division. The Saint-Émilion Classification currently labels 15 wines as First Growths. These ""Premiers Grands Crus Classés"", subdivided into two further classes : ""A"" (2 wines) and ""B"" (13 wines). A further 64 wines are currently classified as ""Grands Crus Classés"". Pomerol has"
"has to come from a single named vineyard (which is called a ""lieu-dit"" in Alsace) of Grand Cru status, and the name of the vineyard must be listed on the label. As of 2011, 51 ""lieux-dits"" are listed as Grand Cru, the latest addition being Kaefferkopf of Ammerschwihr in January 2007. In Alsace, the concept of cru came very early. In 613, the king-to-be Dagobert gave vines on the Steinklotz to the abbey of Haslach. In Rouffach in 762, Heddo, Archbishop of Strasbourg, founded the abbey of Ettenheim and made his income up of the vines of the Vorbourg. In"
"a permitted in the Petit Chablis appellation was planted. Soil and slope plays a major role in delineating the quality differences. Many of the Premier Crus, and all the Grand Crus vineyards, are planted along the valley of the Serein river as it flows into the Yonne. The Grand Crus and some of the most highly rated Premier Crus (Mont de Milieu, Montée de Tonnerre, Fourchaume) are located on southwest facing slopes; these receive the maximum amount of sun exposure. The rest of the Premier Crus are on southeast facing slopes. There are seven officially delineated Grand Cru ""climats"", covering"
"by Chaume being allowed to call itself Premier Cru, while Quarts de Chaume would be called Grand Cru. Within the village of Chaume, a particularly favored enclave of just over is entitled to the name Quarts de Chaume, which means ""the quarter of Chaume"". It is situated with southernly exposure in an amphitheatre-like setting, with brown schist and carboniferous soils. Sources differ as to the explanation of the name, if it is derived from its status as the best quarter of Chaume, or if a quarter of the wine was collected by a landowner as payment in older times. The"
"only. The annual production of Premier Cru wine, as a five-year average, is 1,669 hectoliters of red wine and 738 hectoliters of white wine. The ""climats"" of the AOC located within the commune of Aloxe-Corton and classified as Premiers Crus are: The ""climats"" of the AOC located within the commune of Ladoix-Serrigny and classified as Premiers Crus are: The three Grand Cru AOCs of the Corton hill are partially overlapping, and are situated in three communes; Pernand-Vergelesses, Aloxe-Corton (the largest part) and Ladoix-Serrigny. Corton AOC may be used for both red and white wine, and Corton-Charlemagne and Charlemagne are white"
"grapes grown in villages classified as Grand Cru and Premier Cru, and pinot noir grapes from villages, also classified as Grand Cru and Premier Cru, in the Montagne de Reims. Since 1991, and the early death of Jean Charles Duval, the company has been run by his widow, Carol Duval-Leroy. She has presided over the steady growth of the company, and has left her mark on the champagne world as well, becoming, in 2007, the first woman ever to be nominated chairman of the Association Viticole Champenoise (AVC), the champagne region 's winemakers association. “ Fleur de Champagne”, the Duval-Leroy"
"protecting Champagne's reputation and marketing forces as well as setting up and monitoring regulations for vineyard production and vinification methods. Champagne is the only region that is permitted to exclude AOC or ""Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée"" from their labels. For each vintage, the CIVC rated the villages of the area based on the quality of their grapes and vineyards. The rating was then used to determine the price and the percentage of the price that growers get. The ""Grand Cru"" rated vineyards received 100 percent rating which entitled the grower to 100% of the price. ""Premier Crus"" were vineyards with 90–99%"
"production"" or an ""Ensemble of terrains considered from the point of view of what grows there, from a particular cultivation."" More specifically, ""cru"" is often used to indicate a specifically named and legally defined vineyard or ensemble of vineyards and the vines ""which grow on [such] a reputed terroir; by extension of good quality."" The term is also used to refer to the wine produced from such vines. The term ""cru"" is often used within classifications of French wine. By implication, a wine that displays (or is allowed to display) the name of its ""cru"" on its wine label is"
"Second wine Second wine or second label (French: ""Second vin"") is a term commonly associated with Bordeaux wine to refer to a second label wine made from ""cuvee"" not selected for use in the ""Grand vin"" or first label. In some cases a third wine or even fourth wine is also produced. Depending on the house winemaking style, individual plots of a vineyard may be selected, often those of the youngest vines, and fermented separately, with the best performing barrels being chosen for the house's top wine and the other barrels being bottled under a separate label and sold for"
"by production in the Côte de Beaune, with around 100,000 cases of mostly red wine. The 22 Premier Crus come in two styles, more delicate on the south facing clay soils to the north, rounder and more forward on the east facing gravel to the south. The vineyards cover 544 ha of which 141.5 ha is Premier Cru. Another satellite of Beaune producing mostly red wine in a similar style to Beaune and Savigny but even lighter. The appellation was only awarded in 1970. There are no Premier Crus in its 168ha, of which 9.3ha is Chardonnay. The commercial centre"
"approximate blend to sample. The composition of the final wine may differ from the sample depending on how each barrel matures during the aging process. Based on the initial sample, the wines will be giving a preliminary ""score"" or wine rating based on the expected quality of the wine once it is bottled, released and has had time to mature. An ""en primeur"" wine gives the owner the right to receive the respective bottles of wines once the producer has completed the maturing phase of the wine. Wine bought ""en primeur"" is often directly placed into custom-free storage holding, 'in"
"name for itself in the champagne world by appearing at the numerous World Fairs that were popular at the time. At the 1888 Barcelona World Fair, Duval–Leroy came first in the International Wine Competition. The following years, at Monaco, Moscow, and Paris Universal Exhibitions, Duval-Leroy was recognized for the quality of its champagne. In 1911 the ranking of champagne crus became official, establishing three tier system of “Grands Crus”, “Premiers Crus” and “Crus non classes”. Almost immediately, Raymond who had succeeded his father at the helm of the company, put on the market a new cuvee made exclusively from “premier"
"with a lower rating. While the ""Échelle des Crus"" system was originally conceived as a 1-100 point scale, in practice, the lowest rated villages are rated at 80%. ""Premier crus"" villages are rated between 90 and 99 percent while the highest rated villages, with 100% ratings are ""Grand crus"". Prior to the development of the ""Échelle des Crus"" systems, the Champagne industry functioned on a business dynamic that heavily favored the Champagne houses over the vine growers. Since making sparkling wine is a costly and time-consuming endeavor, most vine growers did not have the means or finances to produce Champagne"
"Château Haut-Brion Château Haut-Brion () is a French wine, rated a ""Premier Cru Classé"" (First Growth), produced in Pessac just outside the city of Bordeaux. It differs from the other wines on the list in its geographic location in the north of the wine-growing region of Graves. Of the five first growths, it is the only wine with the Pessac-Léognan appellation and is in some sense the ancestor of a classification that remains the benchmark to this day. In addition to the ""grand vin"", Haut-Brion produces a red second wine. Formerly named Château Bahans Haut-Brion, beginning with the 2007 vintage,"
"prior to being released to the market. ""Nouveau"" wines are characteristically fruity and may have some residual sugar. They are at their peak drinkability within the first year. As of 2005, there were 55 AOCs in France permitted to make ""nouveau"" wines. ""Vins de primeur"" should not be confused with the practice of buying and selling wines ""en primeur"". Nouveau A nouveau ( ), or ""vin (de) primeur"", is a French wine which may, under the ""Appellation d'origine contrôlée"" (AOC) regulations, be sold in the same year in which it was harvested. The most widely exported ""nouveau"" wine is Beaujolais"
"been overshadowed by the famous names to the east, although the reputation of its white wines is developing as the prices of their neighbours head into the stratosphere. The red wines have leathery notes in their youth, that soften attractively with age. 156ha of the 237ha are Premier Crus. The southern tail of the Côte de Beaune sees Pinot noir predominate, with 90% of wine from Santenay being red. The wines are solid, tending more towards the rustic than the elegant, but are cheaper than the big names to the north. Santenay has 124ha of Premier Crus in its 379ha."
"name within the European Union, describing a red Bordeaux wine, accepted after the British wine trade demonstrated over 300 years' usage of the term. ""Claret"" is occasionally used in the United States as a semi-generic label for red wine in the style of the Bordeaux, ideally from the same grapes as are permitted in Bordeaux. The French themselves do not use the term, except for export purposes. The meaning of ""claret"" has changed over time to refer to a dry, dark red Bordeaux. It has remained a term associated with the English upper class, and consequently appears on bottles of"
"25 hectoliters per hectares as grapes were harvested with a minimum of 238 grams per liter with at least 34 grams of residual sugar in the finished wine. The producers in the Quarts-de-Chaume AOC, located on the plateau southwest of Chaume, took exception to the new AOC particularly the inclusion of the term 1er Cru (or Premier cru) which has a quality association with the wines of Burgundy. The producers of the Quarts-de-Chaume AOC felt that consumers would equate Chaume 1er Cru des Coteaux du Layon as being of a higher quality than their own wines and such their own"
"as a five-year average, is 5,291 hectoliters of red wine and 215 hectoliters of white wine. The ""climats"" classified as Premiers Crus are: The name ""Nuits"" appears in two other AOCs as well. Since the entire subregion Côte de Nuits has been named after Beaune, it also appears in the name of Côte de Nuits-Villages AOC. This is an appellation for wines from several communes, including some which don't have a specific village appellation of their own. The Hautes-Côtes de Nuits is a subregion covering various smaller valleys immediately to the west of the Côtes de Nuits areas on the"
"Grand cru (food and drink) The term grand cru is used in a non-official context in the names of some products, particularly beer, chocolate, whiskey and cognac, to denote a high-quality product. While the term ""grand cru"" is well defined with respect to vineyards, its use with respect to other products is unregulated. In the 1980s, French chocolatiers responded to rising global competition by creating a new marketing message aiming to promote the ""genuineness"" of French chocolate. Some of the terms they used in this marketing included ""vintage"" and ""grand cru"". The grand cru designation signifies that the beans in"
"refused to create any sort of classification scheme but it has produced red wines that are among the most expensive in the world, such as Petrus. First Growth First Growth () status is a classification of wines primarily from the Bordeaux region of France. The need for a classification of the best Bordeaux wines arose from the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris. The result was the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, a list of the top ranked wines, named the Grand Crus Classés (Great Classified Growths). With several thousand different Chateaux producing their own wines in Bordeaux, to be"
"and the producers have little desire to reserve the wine for future blending. A ' is a proprietary blended wine (usually a Champagne) that is considered to be the top of a producer's range. Famous examples include Louis Roederer's Cristal, 's ', 's Dom Pérignon, Duval-Leroy's ', Armand de Brignac ""Gold Brut"", and Pol Roger's '. Perhaps the first publicly-available prestige ' was Moët & Chandon's Dom Pérignon, launched in 1936 with the 1921 vintage. Until then, Champagne houses produced different ' of varying quality, but a top-of-the-range wine produced to the highest standards (and priced accordingly) was a new"
"cru designated sites. Deiss also differs from the traditional system in Alsace which usually includes listing the grape types used to produce the wine on the label, starting in 2000 the Vins de Terroirs labels only indicate the vineyard name. Not putting the grape type on the label of Grand crus was illegal until Deiss convinced the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine to change the law in 2005, against the wishes of many other prominent wine estates in Alsace. Wines are made in three categories, by the estate: Vins de Fruits, Vins de Terroirs and Vins de Temps. Marcel Deiss"
"On the other hand, wines may or may not have vintages. Champagne is usually a blend from more than one year and only sometimes sold as a vintage wine. Also, Port is only sold with a vintage in years of exceptional quality. A wine label may include the producer, the bottler and the merchant's names. The bottler's name must always be included in the label. The importer's name must be included in the label only for countries outside the Common Market. While it is not necessary for a wine to be bottled at its place of origin, it is obligatory"
"in 1996. Other wineries in a number of countries have followed Chapoutier's lead and have braille available on at least some of their bottles. Neck and/or back labels may appear on a bottle. The neck label may include the vintage date and the back label usually gives extra (and usually optional) information about the wine. Government required warnings are usually found in the back label, as well as UPCs. For example, the United States requires alcoholic beverages to include a warning regarding the consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. The label also has to mention the possibility of a reduced ability"