Premier Cru vs Grand Cru: Burgundy's Hierarchy
Updated
Premier Cru vs Grand Cru comes down to a named plot of land, not to whoever bottled the wine. Grand Cru and Premier Cru denote distinct quality tiers in Burgundy's vineyard-focused classification system. Grand Cru represents the highest quality from the best vineyard sites. Premier Cru signifies high quality from slightly less favored sites. These classifications influence aging potential, production volumes, and labeling. They guide your decisions on acquisition and cellaring. In Bordeaux, classifications are producer-driven. Burgundy's system is geographically focused. The vineyard itself holds the classification, not the château. This unique approach is rooted in medieval monastic practices. It emphasizes the specific terroir of each plot. That focus makes Burgundy arguably the most terroir-conscious French wine region. Understanding these distinctions is crucial for navigating the market. It also helps you optimize your fine wine portfolio, particularly for tracked cru wines across Burgundy and Champagne.
What is the difference between Premier Cru and Grand Cru in Burgundy?
The primary difference between Premier Cru and Grand Cru in Burgundy lies in their designated vineyard sites. Those sites reflect distinct levels of quality and prestige within the region's terroir-driven classification. Burgundy's classification is geographically focused. A specific vineyard or region bears a given classification regardless of the wine's producer. This contrasts with Bordeaux, where classifications are producer-driven and awarded to individual châteaux.
In Burgundy, Grand Cru is the highest classification. It represents the pinnacle of quality from the region's most exceptional vineyard sites. Premier Cru is the next tier. It indicates wines of high quality from specific vineyard sites that are still highly regarded, but not quite at the Grand Cru level. These classifications dictate everything from permissible yields and aging potential to how the wines are labeled.
Here is a comparison of Burgundy's main quality categories:
| Feature | Grand Cru | Premier Cru | Village Appellation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Share of Burgundy's production | 2% | 12% | 36% |
| Yield | 35 hl/ha | 45 hl/ha | 50 hl/ha |
| Position on the slope | Middle and higher part of the slopes, with the most exposure to sunshine and the best drainage | Slopes a little less favourably exposed | Flat territory nearer the villages |
| How long it wants in the cellar | Typically a minimum of five to seven years, and the best examples keep for more than 15 years | Often three to five years, and the best keep for much longer | Two to four years after the release date |
| What the label carries | The vineyard name as the appellation, such as Corton or Montrachet, plus the Grand Cru term, but not the village name | The village, the Premier Cru status and usually the vineyard, as in "Volnay 1er Cru Les Caillerets" | The village name, such as "Pommard" |
Those production shares and yields also reveal a fourth tier below the three above: the regional appellations, led by AOC Bourgogne at 55 hl/ha and meant for drinking within three years of the vintage.
Can a grower sell Grand Cru fruit as Premier Cru?
Yes, and it happens. A producer can always declassify a wine in steps to a lower-ranked AOC. Wine from a Grand Cru vineyard can go out as a Premier Cru from that vineyard's village. A Premier Cru can go out as a village wine.
The declassified wine almost invariably sells for less, so a grower only does it when the whole line-up gains. The usual motive is vine age. Keep only the older vines in the Grand Cru bottling and its quality, prestige and price all rise, while the younger-vine fruit leaves as Premier Cru. So a Premier Cru label does not always mean Premier Cru land. Sometimes it means Grand Cru land whose owner chose to hold it back from the flagship.
Why does the classification sit on the vineyard and not the château?
Burgundy ranks ground. Bordeaux ranks estates. The Bordeaux classification of 1855 came out of the Exposition Universelle de Paris that year, after Emperor Napoleon III asked for a ranking of France's best Bordeaux wines, and brokers from the wine industry ranked them according to a château's reputation and trading price. Only twice since has that list changed.
The consequence matters when you buy. Because 1855 classified châteaux rather than plots, the vineyards those estates own have expanded, shrunk and been divided with no reclassification. A parcel inside the commune boundary is eligible for use by any château, whatever the quality of the parcel itself. A Burgundy cru cannot drift like that, because the rank belongs to the terroir. Burgundy holds more appellations d'origine contrôlée than any other French region, and pays attention to which of its 400 soil types grew the fruit.
Does Grand Cru always mean the better bottle?
No. British wine critic Jancis Robinson states that "price is an extremely unreliable guide" and that "what a wine sells for often has more to do with advertising hype and marketing decisions than the quality contained in the bottle". Grand Crus command steep prices. Village level wines from top producers turn up at far lower ones.
Who filled the bottle still tells you something, and the label says so. A grower who bottles their own wine uses Mis en bouteille au domaine, Mis au domaine or Mis en bouteille à la propriété. Négociants may write Mis en bouteille dans nos caves, but the estate-bottled wording is closed to them, and most use Mis en bouteille par. In 2000 Burgundy counted 3,200 domaines. The roughly 115 négociants who make the majority of the wine hold only about 8% of the vineyard area.
Where are Burgundy's Grand Cru vineyards?
Almost all of them sit in the Côte d'Or, the exception being Chablis grand cru. That strip is small: the wine-growing heart of it runs 40 kilometres (25 mi) and is under 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) wide in most places. The Côte de Nuits holds 24 of the region's 25 red grand cru appellations. All but one of the white Grand Crus sit in the Côte de Beaune, the exception being Musigny blanc.
Chablis uses the same ladder of Grand Cru, Premier Cru and village wines, with Petit Chablis a rung below village Chablis. Beaujolais follows a different scheme again. Across Burgundy there are 100 appellations sorted into those four quality categories, and around 150 separate AOCs once Chablis and Beaujolais are counted in.
A step up the ladder is a step up in price, and the two do not always move together. Put the tiers side by side before you commit, and read how to buy Burgundy if you are building a cellar rather than making a single purchase.