Within the appellation of Champagne, there are over 300 villages permitted to label their wines as Champagne
These villages are all ranked based on the quality of the grapes
that they produce; categorised into a 3-tiered pyramid of Autre Cru, Premier Cru and Grand Cru.
This ranking system was originally created in the
early 20th century, to differentiate the
best grapes in the region. Originally 12
villages were given the title of Grand Cru, however,
in 1985 a further 5 were added,
bringing the total to 17.
Notably, the Grand Cru of Champagne are almost exclusively
located in the sub-regions of Montagne de Reims
and Cote des Blancs, with only 1, Ay, falling outside in the Vallee de la Marne.
For a wine to be labelled as a Grand Cru, it must contain 100% grapes from Grand Cru villages.
If it contains any grapes from Premier Cru villages, it can only be labelled as Premier Cru.
Anything below Grand or Premier Cru can’t boast either title on the label.
So Bjorn, what's the difference between a Premier Cru and a Grand Cru?
Over centuries they've made a classification of the whole region. So we have about 314
different villages and the top, you know, of the quality pyramid is 17 villages. So that's the Grand Cru
the best sites.
Then we have, have 44 Premier Cru's, so that's the second tier of the quality ladder.
and when it's comes to quality, can a Premier Cru be better than a Grand Cru?
Of course! It's in the hand of the skills of the wine maker.
So, you can have a top top producer, making super wine from a lesser-known origin and vice versa
Cool. And what makes the Grand Cru so special?
You know, we talked about these 17 different origins
and they are very different when it comes to exposure,
If it's sudden exposure to the sun to get a lot of
maturity in the grapes, that's one factor that is very
important when it comes to the Grand Crus.
The origin of the venues, how old they are, how deep down in the soil that the root system goes.
How it picks up a lot of elements during
generations and generations. The vine
is actually very much like a
human being, it learns a lot during its lifetime,
from the very specific place where it grows.
So, that's very important when it comes to Grand Crus also
a certain grape variety has adapted,
for hundreds and hundreds of years, in a specific site like a Grand Cru.
Also the drainage, how the water goes down in the system, so the vine can pick up the water during the whole rain season.
Exposure of the vineyard, of course. Those are the very specific, I would say, with the Grand Cru.
All the Grand Cru amazing on the same level?
If you're read a Grand Cru on the label,
it gives you an indication that it is of top quality.
Of course, you can have your personal ranking within these
that I have. So,
there is a little bit of difference although they have the same possibility because
the whole of the village is ranked on the top tier.
So they are on the top level, but they are also differences, absolutely.
What is your favourite Grand Cru? Oooh! That's a good question. There are so many
if we're talking about Pinot Noir, I think 3 different Grand Cru's
are great. So the Aÿ, for the power, the depth
and the body,
for Bouzy, the perfume, add a little bit of that
on top, that's beautiful and I absolutely love
Ambonnay for the
suppleness of it. If we're talking about Chardonnay,
I love the 'almond notes' and 'nougat notes'
in Les Mesnil. I love the acidity
and finesse and power in
Avize.
And also, there's a roundness in Chouilly,
which is absolutely beautiful.
How should a Grand Cru taste?
We have a beautiful example in front of us. We have a
Blanc De Noirs from the village of Aÿ, from Roger Brun.
So this really shows the
complexity, the concentration, and the finesse,
if you have a scale of 1-100,
if you have wine from a Grand Cru, you will take almost 100 points
on all scales because you have so much layers, details and
layers of different characters, as we have in this.
Grand Crus are more often than not the purest
expressions of Champagne, however,
it’s important not to discredit other Champagne's.
As the vast majority of Champagnes are blends,
winemakers will always choose the best grapes in a given
vintage for their blends, regardless of their ranking.
Try comparing different blends or single vineyard expressions to truly appreciate the diversity that this incredible region has to offer.