Bourgogne
Truthful to the Premiers Grands Crus charter, only Burgundy’s Grands Crus and Premiers Crus were selected, since these wines are produced on very small plots, the best being called ‘climats’ (a word used since at least the 18th century) and amounting to around 600, all classified Grand or Premier Cru.
A very distinctive sign of these soil’s quality: presence of chalk in Côte de Beaune, Côte de Nuits or Chablis.
These high-quality wines are ranked right at the top of Burgundy’s quality ranking and only represent 11.50% of Burgundy’s total production, which shows their scarcity and excellence.
Closer care is brought to these wines during their elaboration until their bottling. Moreover, they can age in cellar for many years, which explains why they are in high demand throughout the world.
The Premiers Crus plots are located in the towns or villages of Aloxe-Corton (like the clos des Maréchaudes or the clos du Chapitre), Auxey-duresses (like the vineyard of Val), Beaune (like the clos du Roi or the clos des Mouches), Chassagne-Montrachet (like Bois de Chassagne or les Baudines), Fixin with the Clos de la Perrière or the clos Napoleon, Mercurey (Clos des Montaigus or Clos Tonnerre), Meursault (les Charmes or les Gouttes d'Or), Montagny with Chazelle, Nuits-Saint-Georges (Clos de la Maréchale or Le clos d'Arlot), Pernand-Vergelesses, Pommard, Saint-Aubin, Santenay (like the clos de Tavanne or les Gravières), Savigny-lès-beaune like Montée Rouge, or even Blagny with la Jenelotte, in Chablis with les Epinottes or les Lys, in Chambolle-Musigny, in Gevrey-Chambertin (Bel-Air or la Petite Chapelle), Givry, Ladoix, Monthélie (clos des Toisières) Morey-saint-denis, Puligny-Montrachet (clos de la Garenne or clos de la Mouchère), Rully ( la Bressande or la Renarde), Volnay ( clos de la Rougeotte, clos des Chênes), Vosne-romanée ( la Croix Rameau or les Chaumes), Vougeot ( clos de la perrière or clos Blanc) to mention only a few, but not forgetting about any others.
The Grands Crus vineyards (A.O.C) are located in the towns or villages of Chablis (Bougros or Grenouilles), Gevrey-Chambertin ( Chambertin, Clos de Bèze, Charmes-Chambertin, Mazoyères-Chambertin, Chapelle-Chambertin, Griottes-Chambertin, latricières-Chambertin, Mazis-Chambertin, Ruchottes-Chambertin), Morey-saint-Denis (like Bonnes Mares or Clos de Tart), Chambolle-Musigny, Clos de Vougeot, Vosne-Romanée (Romanée-Conti, la Romanée, la Tache, Richebourg, Romanée-Saint-Vivant), Ladoix-Serrigny (like Corton in red or Corton-Charlemagne in white, Aloxe-Corton (Corton red and white, Charlemagne white), Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet (a non-exhaustive list that underlies many others…)
The Premier and Grands Crus (AOC) are exceptional and rare wines, and can often be referred to as sublime after a long ageing process in cellar, sometimes for many decades, time being forgotten.