Burgundy's Wine Classification System

The fundamental difference between Burgundy and Bordeaux is what gets classified. In Bordeaux, the classification ranks châteaux - estates that own land, make wine, and carry a brand. In Burgundy, the classification ranks the land itself. A vineyard is Premier Cru or Grand Cru regardless of who farms it or makes wine from its grapes.

This matters because Burgundy vineyards are fragmented across many owners. The Grand Cru vineyard Clos de Vougeot, for example, is roughly 50 hectares divided among more than 80 different producers. Each makes their own wine from their parcel, and the quality varies enormously - a Clos de Vougeot from a top domaine can be ten times the price of one from a lesser producer. The vineyard name on the label tells you where the grapes grew; the producer name tells you how well the wine was made.

Burgundy’s classification is a four-level hierarchy, with each level representing a progressively smaller and more specific area. The higher the tier, the more precisely the origin is defined, and the higher the expected quality (and price).

Regional (Bourgogne)

The broadest level. Wines labelled Bourgogne Rouge or Bourgogne Blanc can come from grapes grown anywhere in the Burgundy region. These are the entry point - affordable, often pleasant, but rarely exciting. They account for around half of all Burgundy production by volume.

Village

Wines from a named commune - Gevrey-Chambertin, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, Volnay, and so on. The grapes must come from vineyards within that village’s boundaries. Village-level wines are a step up in specificity and usually in quality. There are around 44 village appellations in Burgundy.

Premier Cru (1er Cru)

Specific named vineyards within a village that have been identified as producing consistently superior wine. The label carries both the village name and the vineyard name - for example, Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint-Jacques or Meursault Perrières. There are over 600 Premier Cru vineyards in Burgundy. Quality varies widely - the best Premiers Crus (like Clos Saint-Jacques or Les Amoréuses in Chambolle-Musigny) rival Grand Cru wines in quality and price.

Grand Cru

The pinnacle. Just 33 vineyards across Burgundy hold Grand Cru status, representing roughly 1.5% of total vineyard area. Grand Cru wines carry only the vineyard name on the label - no village. A bottle of Chambertin is Grand Cru; a bottle of Gevrey-Chambertin is village level. This can confuse newcomers, since the village often appended the Grand Cru name to its own (Gevrey became Gevrey-Chambertin, Puligny became Puligny-Montrachet) precisely to borrow the vineyard’s prestige.

The northern half of the Côte d’Or, running from Marsannay south to Corgoloin. This is where the majority of Burgundy’s red Grand Crus are found. The key villages and their Grand Crus, from north to south:

Gevrey-Chambertin

• Chambertin
• Chambertin-Clos de Bèze
• Chapelle-Chambertin
• Charmes-Chambertin
• Griotte-Chambertin
• Latricières-Chambertin
• Mazis-Chambertin
• Mazoyères-Chambertin
• Ruchottes-Chambertin

Morey-Saint-Denis

• Clos de la Roche
• Clos Saint-Denis
• Clos de Tart
• Clos des Lambrays
• Bonnes-Mares (part)

Chambolle-Musigny

• Musigny
• Bonnes-Mares (part)

Vougeot

• Clos de Vougeot

Vosne-Romanée and Flagey-Echézeaux

• Romanée-Conti
• La Tâche
• Richebourg
• Romanée-Saint-Vivant
• La Romanée
• La Grande Rue
• Grands Échézeaux
• Échézeaux

Nuits-Saint-Georges

No Grand Cru vineyards, despite being the commercial capital of the Côte de Nuits. Its best Premiers Crus - Les Saint-Georges, Les Vaucrains, Aux Boudots - are regularly discussed as Grand Cru candidates, but no promotion has been made.

The southern half of the Côte d’Or, from Ladoix south to Santenay. While it produces some excellent reds (Pommard, Volnay, Corton), the Côte de Beaune is best known for its white Grand Crus.

Aloxe-Corton / Ladoix / Pernand-Vergelesses

• Corton (red and white)
• Corton-Charlemagne (white)

Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet

• Montrachet
• Bâtard-Montrachet
• Chevalier-Montrachet
• Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet
• Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet

Montrachet is widely considered the greatest white wine vineyard in the world. It straddles the border between Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet. Production is tiny - roughly 30,000 bottles per year across all producers - and prices reflect it.

Chablis, in northern Burgundy, has its own internal classification that mirrors the broader hierarchy. All Chablis is made from Chardonnay.

Petit Chablis

The most basic tier, from vineyards on flatter, less favourable sites. Light, simple, and meant for early drinking.

Chablis

Village-level wines from the broader Chablis area. The core of production - lean, mineral Chardonnay with the characteristic Kimmeridgian limestone signature.

Chablis Premier Cru

40 named vineyards grouped into 17 principal climats. The best known include Montmains, Fourchâume, Mont de Milieu, and Vaillons. More concentration and complexity than straight Chablis, often benefiting from a few years of ageing.

Chablis Grand Cru

Seven vineyards on a single south-west-facing slope above the town of Chablis:

• Blanchot
• Bougros
• Les Clos
• Grenouilles
• Preuses
• Valmur
• Vaudésir

Les Clos is the largest and generally the most highly regarded. Grand Cru Chablis is richer and longer-lived than the village wine, but still marked by the racy acidity and mineral backbone that distinguishes Chablis from other Burgundy whites.

Because Burgundy classifies vineyards rather than estates, the producer is the critical variable. A Grand Cru from a careless producer can be worse than a village wine from a great one. The names that matter - Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Leroy, Roumier, Rousseau, Coche-Dury, Raveneau, Leflaive, Dujac - command premiums that have as much to do with winemaking as with the vineyard they farm.

This also means that Burgundy can offer value at the village and Premier Cru level that Bordeaux’s more rigid classification does not. A young, talented producer in Gevrey-Chambertin or Meursault making village-level wine can deliver quality far above the appellation’s average price. Finding those producers is half the interest of drinking Burgundy.

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