Burgundy Wine Label Information

The concept of 'terroir' or growing condition is deep rooted in the Burgundian wine culture. The considerable variation in quality of wines produced in different parcels of land is the basis of the entire classification system. Therefore, unlike Bordeaux, the top tier Burgundy wine labels will display a particular vineyard along with their designation and the commune or village they are produced in.

Although producers are important but particular plots of land and their designation is considered to be the primary quality indicator. The areas are classified according to their potential and will fall under one of these categories:

• Grand Cru: These are the highest quality wines produced from a relatively small number of vineyard sites in the Côte d'Or. These wine labels will display a specific vineyard name as the appellation plus the term 'Grand Cru'. For example, the image below shows 'Chambertin' which is a Grand cru vineyard in the commune/village of Gevrey-Chambertin.
• Premier Cru: These wines come from sites that are not at par with the Grand crus but still are of high quality. Premier Cru wines are labeled with the name of the village of origin, the Premier cru status, and usually the vineyard name, for example, 'Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos-St-Jaques'. If the individual vineyard name does not appear on the label that means the grapes were sourced from several Premier cru vineyards within the commune.
• Commune or Village appellation: These wines are produced from grapes that are grown in different vineyards within a village that are supposedly lesser in quality to Grand and Premier crus. Since they do not come from a single vineyard, the labels are only allowed to display the village names such as Gevrey Chambertin, Puligny-Montrachet and Aloxe-Corton.
• Regional appellation: These are wines which are allowed to be produced over the entire region, or over an area significantly larger than that of an individual village. Unlike Grand crus, Premier crus and village wines where only red and white wines are produced using the noble grapes Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, regional appellations allow the production of rosé and sparkling wines as well as wines dominated by other grape varieties. The labels may display as generic an appellation as 'Appellation Bourgogne Contrôlée' to sub-regional categories like 'Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Beaune' and 'Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits'. Lastly, there are wine labels that display specific styles like the sparkling Crémant de Bourgogne and grape varieties such as Bourgogne Aligoté.

Beaujolais, in southern Burgundy has its own classification system. Top quality wines come from ten different crus each imparting its own character to the wines. The other three appellations that appear on the label are more generic and include 'Appelation Beaujolais Contrôlée, Appellation Beaujolais-Villages Contrôlée' and 'Beaujolais Blanc and Beaujolais Rosé'.

Côte Chalonnaise wines on the other hand often show Appellation d'Origin Protegée (AOP) Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise on the label but can also use the generic Bourgogne AOP name. There are five village level AOPs within Côte Chalonnaise that are allowed to display their names on the label.

Please see the illustration below for a quality wine label from Burgundy. You may find it helpful to compare the label information to those listed above.

Please also have a look at the wine label information for the European Union, France, Bordeaux, Alsace, Champagne, Germany, Italy, USA, Australia or a general information regarding wine labels.

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