Decanter World Wine Awards
Photo: Brigitte Haberl
At all of 54 ha, with authorised yields dropping from 25 hl/ha down to 20 hl/ha for this botrytised dessert wine, and with just 19 producers using the AOC, the elevation won’t change the face of wine retailing. It does, though, serve as a reminder as to how vexed the status of Grand Cru is in French wine legislation. Let me resume the inconsistencies.
Burgundy’s 33 Grands Crus are - and should be - the model for others. The Quarts de Chaume promotion is firmly in the Burgundian model: a small, single-terroir appellation; plenty of historical evidence for its uniqueness; more stringent production conditions than for the appellations which surround it. Grand Cru in Alsace draws on the same vein of inspiration, though the region’s status as a pawn in assorted Franco-German wars broke many of the historical threads, and the vineyard boundaries created between 1975 and 1992 were slacker than in Burgundy.
Grand Cru in Champagne enlarges the optic yet again: no longer a single vineyard or terroir, but now an entire village (though note that there is only one AOC in Champagne: Champagne itself). In a region of tiny parcels where blending has long been the norm, though, this pragmatic vagueness seemed all that was viable. Maybe we can do better in the future.
By contrast ‘Grand Cru’ in St Emilion, as I have written before, is an embarrassment, since any producer within the huge St Emilion AOC can claim it for a bottled wine made with a slightly lowered yield and with 14 months’ ageing, providing it is thought to taste ‘typical’. Much the same applies to Banyuls Grand Cru (the term merely implies longer ageing and a higher minimum percentage of Grenache). Recent efforts, meanwhile, to flag up ten sub-regions of Languedoc as ‘Grands Crus’ has met with official disapproval, and is a marketing initiative unlikely ever to see the light of day.
It’s important to draw a distinction, of course, between property classification systems (such as the Médoc’s nineteenth-century warhorse, or the no-less-outdated system of Provence crus classés, amazingly given official sanction back in 1955 when the area was still a VDQS) and terroir classification systems (such as Grand Cru).
Grand Cru and Premier Cru (and their equivalents in other languages) are terms which should be reserved for the very finest zones of a nation’s entire vineyard stock, regardless of ownership. It is a classification of potential.
Cru Classé and the like, by contrast, refer to a property, and a commercial trajectory within a market: it is a classification of achievement.
The two may overlap – but any ‘classed growth’ which wanted itself considered as a Grand Cru should be ready to have all of its parcels assessed, and the weakest ones excluded. Would the Bordeaux First Growths be ready to do that? The definition of Grand Cru as representing potential is also why we have to put up with underperformers in Grand Cru zones, though properly drafted production regulations (and a strict appellation tasting panel) should squeeze them towards fulfilment.
The Loire Valley promotion, of course, means that the Grand Cru game should be open to all French producers. Here’s my list of those French AOCs in regions without a Grand Cru system at present which should, in whole or in part, now aspire to the acquisition of Grand Cru status.
There’s a blue whale of a problem, though. Most of the relevant appellations contain some land of potential Grand Cru quality – but plenty more which is only of Premier Cru or ‘Villages’ potential. There will be losers, in other words, as well as winners.
France’s Grands-Crus-In-Waiting
- Savennières/Coulée de Serrant
- Sancerre Lieux-Dits (defined hill sites)
- Pouilly-Fumé Lieux-Dits (defined hill sites)
- Côte Rôtie
- Condrieu/Château Grillet
- Hermitage
- Châteauneuf du Pape Lieux-Dits (defined sub-zones)
- Croupes de St Estèphe (defined gravel rises)
- Croupes de Pauillac (defined gravel rises)
- Croupes de St Julien (defined gravel rises)
- Croupes de Margaux (defined gravel rises)
- Croupes de Pessac-Léognan (defined gravel rises)
- Croupes de Sauternes et de Barsac (defined gravel rises)
- St Emilion La Côte
- St Emilion Terrasse de Figeac
- Pomerol Haute Terrasse (the former ‘Günz gravels’)
- Cahors Troisième Terrasse
- Madiran Lieux-Dits (defined hill sites)
- Bandol Lieux-Dits (defined hill sites)
Have your say!
Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com
November 03 11:27
As Charles suggests, this is just teh latest instalment in a long appellation-cru saga involving primarily Chaume rather than Quarts de Chaume.
This post and others like it do much to indicate why vignerons hanker after "grand cru" status - it gets you noticed. Compare the coverage that Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru has had in the ganeral wine press with the creation of the new Muscadet "crus communaux" and this becomes obvious. The crus communaux are similarly small, terroir-based subregions of the Sevre et Maine appellation, and regulate vine age, yields, time sur lie and other features of the wine. They are little different to a grand cru, but - despite the fact there are three already in existence - they have received little press.
Nik
October 31 20:43
Good article. The Cote Rotie would need to tidy up the allowance of Viognier IMO. The wines can vary so much in taste and quality. There is also good 'Condrieau' terroir in Northern St Joseph where the regions meet. This is an absurd rule. To go further no one here would deny Ch.Grillet as exceptional terroir but what of the wines in the last while? Has it really showed that it is the best? When there is one producer to an AOC maybe the system should rely on the properties credentials and not to the terroir contrary to Andrew's well articulated and correct thoughts. It's all chocker with land mines out there and the with the rate of French meetings and meal breaks with the obligatory cheese course this wouldn't get sorted within my life time. Yes Banyul's G.C. is a joke and forget about Chinon, how about Bourgueil? Why don't we see some industry initiative and see an equivalent established in France of the illustrious German VDP?
Kathleen Burk
October 31 18:51
Re the comment by Hunter, Ch. d'Yquem, at the request of Thomas Jefferson, bottled their wine for him at their estate.
Rick Schofield
October 31 16:24
Well written as always, Andrew, but ...
Why not let the reputation and track record of each individual producer establish the value of each of his wines and have no Grand Crus, which guarantee high prices due to supply and demand but do not guarantee quality (as evidenced today).
Once you establish a terroir rating, you pretty much have to limit the growers there to one grape and with today’s know-how that is not necessary, nor fun for the producer.
Furthermore, with today's climate change, many of the "best terroirs" are producing wines with high alcohol & low acid. German greats are buying vineyards at the top of the Mosel near the forest so they can make real Kabinetts. For 2009 red & white burgundy, I have to buy regional wines to get freshness. In Alsace I have to start buying in the Bas-Rhin to get cut and dryness. In Bordeaux: 2010 is fresher than 2009 so I stick to the cheap AC's in '09 Bordeaux. Historically, all the great growths, ranked or not, were the ones where the snow melted first and the harvest was ripest. Today, those sites are not necessarily the best anymore.
Rick Schofield
Port Ewen, NY