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Grand Cru (great growth) is the highest level in the vineyard classification of Burgundy. There are a total of 550 hectares (1,400 acres) of Grand Cru vineyards—approximately 2% of Burgundy's 28,000 hectares (69,000 acres) of vineyards (excluding Beaujolais)—of which 356 hectares (880 acres) produce red wine and 194 hectares (480 acres) produce white wine. In 2010, 18,670 hectoliters of Burgundy Grand Cru wine was produced, corresponding to 2.5 million bottles, or just over 1.3% of the total wine production of Burgundy.

The origin of Burgundy's Grand crus can be traced to the work of the Cistercians who, from amongst their vast land holdings in the region, were able to delineate and isolate plots of land that produced wine of distinct character. Following the French Revolution many of these vineyards were broken up and sold as smaller parcels to various owners. The partible inheritance scheme outlined in the Napoleonic code, which specified that all inheritance must be equally divided among heirs, further contributed to the parceling of Burgundy's vineyards. This created situations such as the case of Clos Vougeot, a single 125-acre (51 ha) vineyard run by the monks, that today is parceled into plots owned by nearly 80 different owners, some of whom only own enough vines to make a case of wine per vintage. In accordance with Appellation d'origine contrôlée laws, each of these owners is entitled to use the Grand Cru Clos de Vougeot designation on their labels, although the quality, style, price and reputation of each owner's wine can vary widely.

List of Grands Crus

See also

• Burgundy wine
• List of Chablis crus

Notes

1. ^ The majority of the Bonnes Mares vineyard is located in Chambolle-Musigny with a small portion also in Morey-St.-Denis.
2. ^ Corton and Corton-Charlemagne straddle the boundary between Pernand-Vergelesses, Ladoix-Serrigny, and Aloxe-Corton.
3. ^ Charlemagne straddles the boundary between Pernand-Vergelesses and Aloxe-Corton, but the appellation is almost never used, as wines are usually sold as Corton-Charlemagne instead.
4. Bâtard-Montrachet is located in both Chassagne-Montrachet and Puligny-Montrachet.
5. Le Montrachet is located in both Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet.

References

1. BIVB: Chiffres‐clés de la Bourgogne Viticole Archived 2012-10-28 at the Wayback Machine, accessed on May 5, 2012
2. H. Johnson Vintage: The Story of Wine pg 131 Simon and Schuster 1989 ISBN 0-671-68702-6
3. K. MacNeil The Wine Bible pg 191-195 Workman Publishing 2001 ISBN 1-56305-434-5
4. BIVB: Les Appellations d’Origine Contrôlée de Bourgogne, accessed on May 5, 2012

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