Cru is a

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

term used to indicate a high-quality vineyard or group of vineyards. It is a French word which was originally used to refer to both a region and anything grown in it, but is now mostly used to refer to both a vineyard and its wines. The term is often used within classifications of

French wine French wine is produced throughout all of France in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world. French wine traces its history to th ...

. By implication, a wine that displays (or is allowed to display) the name of its ''cru'' on its

wine label Wine labels are important sources of information for consumers since they tell the type and origin of the wine. The label is often the only resource a buyer has for evaluating the wine before purchasing it. Certain information is ordinarily inclu ...

is supposed to exhibit the typical characteristics of this vineyard or group of vineyards. The terms ''premier cru'' and ''grand cru'' designate levels of presumed quality that are variously defined in different wine regions.

''Premier cru''

''Premier cru'' is a

French language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...

wine term corresponding to "first growth" and which can be used to refer to classified

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

s, wineries and

s, with different meanings in different wine regions:J. Robinson (ed.). ''The Oxford Companion to Wine'', Third Edition. p. 544. Oxford University Press, 2006. . * For

Bordeaux wine Bordeaux wine (; ) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city, the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the broad estuary called the Gironde; the Gi ...

, the term is applied to classified wineries: ** In the

Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 resulted from the Exposition Universelle (1855), 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, when Emperor Napoleon III of France, Napoleon III requested a classification system for France's best Bordea ...

, ''Premier cru'' or ''Premier cru classé'' is the highest level of five within the "''Grand cru classé''" designation for red wines from the Médoc and Graves, and the second-highest of three in Sauternes where the highest is ''Premier cru supérieur'' (superior first growth). These wines are often referred to as first growths in English. ** In the classification of Saint-Émilion wine, the highest level is ''Premier grand cru classé A'' and the second highest ''Premier grand cru classé B''. The term ''Saint-Émilion grand cru'' refers to wineries or wines below the overall ''Grand cru classé'' level, and is integrated within the appellation rules. * For

Burgundy wine Burgundy wine ( or ') is made in the Burgundy region of eastern France, in the valleys and slopes west of the Saône, a tributary of the Rhône. The most famous wines produced here, and those commonly referred to as "Burgundies", are dry (wine), ...

, the term is applied to classified vineyards, with ''Premier cru'' being the second highest classification level, below that of ''grand cru'' and above the basic ''village'' AOCs. For Burgundy wines, the terms ''premier cru'' (abbreviated ''1er cru'') are usually kept rather than being translated into English.

''Grand cru''

''Grand cru'' ( French for 'great growth') is a regional wine classification that designates a

known for its favorable reputation in producing

. Although often used to 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 (; ; from ''terre'', ) is a French language, French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, th ...

. It is the highest level of classification of ''

appellation d'origine contrôlée In France, the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (, ; abbr. AOC ) is a label that identifies an agricultural product whose stages of production and processing are carried out in a defined geographical area – the ''terroir'' – and using ...

'' (AOC) wines from

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

. The same term is applied to ''châteaux'' in

Saint-Émilion Saint-Émilion (; Gascon dialect, Gascon: ''Sent Milion'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in Southwestern France. In the heart of the country of Libournais (the area around Libourne), in a regio ...

although in that region, it has a different meaning and does not represent the top tier of classification.

History in Burgundy

Early Burgundian wine history is distinctly marked by the work of the

Cistercians The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

with the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

being the principal vineyard owner for most of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. Receiving land and vineyards as

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...

s, endowments and as exchanges for

indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for (forgiven) sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission bef ...

s the monks were able to studiously observe the quality of wines from individual plots and, over time, began to isolate those areas that would consistently produce wine of similar aroma, body, color and vigor and designate them as ''crus''.H. Johnson. ''Vintage: The Story of Wine''. p. 131. Simon and Schuster, 1989. . Following the success of the

, Jules Lavalle developed an informal classification of vineyards of the Côte d'Or in his book ''History and Statistics of the Côte d'Or''. In 1861, Lavalle's classification was formalized by the Beaune Committee of Agriculture.J. Robinson (ed.). ''The Oxford Companion to Wine'', Third Edition. p. 175. Oxford University Press, 2006. . The designations of ''grand cru'' and ''premier cru'' were later developed and expanded on in the 1930s with the creation of the AOC system.J. Robinson (ed.). ''The Oxford Companion to Wine'', Third Edition. p. 115.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2006. .

References

{{Reflist, 2 Burgundy wine Wine classification Wine terminology

''Premier cru''

''Grand cru''

History in Burgundy

See also

References