Origin
Premier Cru appellations are the next tier above village appellations in Bourgogne’s rigorous classification system. These appellations denote vineyard sites that have a history of producing consistently high-quality wines, placing them among the top French Burgundy wines available. Premier Cru wines are primarily crafted from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with a small proportion of Aligoté occasionally included. Typically, Premier Cru vineyards are not monopolised by a single owner (known as a monopole); instead, they are usually divided among multiple owners, each managing their own vineyard plots.
Across the regions of Chablis, the Côte d’Or, and the Côte Chalonnaise, there are more than 600 Premier Cru vineyards, making up about 10% of Burgundy’s total wine production. Wines must carry the designation “Premier Cru” on their labels. When a wine is produced from a single vineyard, the vineyard name is also included on the label, such as Gevrey-Chambertin Champeaux or Morey-Saint-Denis Les Millandes. For wines blended from multiple Premier Cru vineyards within a village, individual vineyard names are typically omitted from the label.
