The Grand Cru of Burgundy, the pinnacle of both red and white wine
These vineyards make the best most prestigious and most expensive expressions of both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the world
there are only
33 Grand Cru across all of Burgundy and, besides the one in Chablis, the remaining 32 are all
Located along Burgundy's golden slope the Côte-d'Or.
It is not by chance though that these vineyards produce the most incredible expression of Burgundy
Many of these plots were identified for their superior quality at least 300 years ago
And in fact the walls of Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru were built in
1336
The distinction of the Burgundy Grand Cru comes down to their individual terroir and their favourable climatic conditions
So when I was in Burgundy, I got to try a few really great Grand Cru's
What would define a Grand Cru? When you went to Burgundy you saw lots of little plots lots of different vineyards
I think there's around about
340 Premier Cru
And then there's 33 Grand Cru those 33 Grand Cru are really kind of again where those monks saw that the best grapes were
consistently being made
Generally you find the Grand Cru, if you imagine the slope, at the top of the slope
We're gonna have a forest then you have the slope then at the bottom
you have the villages and
Then sort of going over onto the flat lands you get the less quality wines you imagine on the far side of the road
Where the village is these tend to be sort of the straight Bourgogne's, so Bourgogne Blanc, Bourgogne rouge
Then you come in to where the villages
So the village wines like Chassange-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet, Gevrey-Chambertin
and then when you start to get onto the slope itself as you start to rise up and you start to get the benefit of
That that slope the sunshine
That's where you start to get the Premier Cru's and then probably when you go right up the slope
Kind of in the center of the slope all the way along the Cote that's really where you get all the Grand Cru's.
it's a combination of
Maybe where a lot of the bedrock is more exposed
Because if you're on the slope the top someone's gonna run down to the bottom of the hill
So it's where you get a good exposure of that sort of primary rock. You're gonna get good drainage there as well
like we say it could be quite cold and wet and Burgundy so you want good great drainage there and you're just going to generally
Get best quality grapes coming from those Grand cru sites, plus as a winemaker
They would probably put more oak into Grand Cru wines
But because of the grapes are more concentrated and more powerful they can cope with more oak
so that
combination of more oak more
Concentrated grapes from that great site are really the kind of things that elevate it from a straight Village or a Premier Cru really up
to Grand Cru status level
and if you imagine you're up on that slope and you're in a kind of a generally
frosty area cold air runs down the slope
So if it does keep you start to be frosty in your vineyards
You know this the frosty air is gonna run all the way down and settle on the bottom bit
So really being on that slope is gonna give you the best protection against you know
frost, probably if you're higher up on the slope is where you're gonna get more airflow through the vineyards
It's going to stop disease sort of catching and then spreading those well aerated, you know
Slope, slope sites are really the kind of the best area's for the top of quality wine.
And you know, if you're on that slope and you're facing east you can they get their maximum orientation towards the Sun
So first thing in the morning when the Sun comes up
It's gonna warm your vineyards and it's gonna keep you warm vineyards warm all day long
And of course, you know Grand Cru vineyards are you know, they come from a single site.
The definition of a Grand Cru extends from the terroir and each one should produce a truly unique and distinguished wine.
A true Grand Cru should not only be the greatest expression of the village it comes from but also a wine that surpasses even that
This is why a Burgundy Grand Cru will only boast the name of the vineyard
It comes from on its label by tasting these Grand Cru side-by-side
It's possible to understand how the true expression of terroir can be captured in a wine
Even if the grapes were grown only a few hundred metres apart