{"id":13995,"date":"2017-05-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-05T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.invinic.com\/what-does-grand-cru-mean-in-bordeaux"},"modified":"2017-10-05T14:44:51","modified_gmt":"2017-10-05T12:44:51","slug":"what-does-grand-cru-mean-in-bordeaux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.invinic.com\/en\/what-does-grand-cru-mean-in-bordeaux","title":{"rendered":"What does Grand Cru mean in Bordeaux?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spend enough time around French wine, and you\u2019ll invariably hear the phrase \u201c<\/span>Grand Cru<\/b>\u201d. It sounds good, but it\u2019s often misunderstood. It\u2019s easy to see why: The term itself is French for \u201cgreat growth\u201d, with \u201cgrowth\u201d in the natural, agricultural sense of the word. Unfortunately, it\u2019s not simply the case that the best vineyards in France are referred to as Grand Cru – many are, though there are outstanding wineries that don\u2019t bear such a title, and the term has different meanings from one wine region to another, and. <\/span>Grand Cru Champagne<\/b><\/a> is one thing, and <\/span>Grand Cru Bordeaux<\/b><\/a> quite another.<\/span><\/p>\n

To understand things a little better, we\u2019ll focus on Bordeaux, its Grand Cru rankings and some important Grand Cru wineries you should know about!<\/span><\/p>\n

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Grand Cru Bordeaux<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s look at <\/span>Bordeaux<\/b><\/a>, then. There are almost 10,000 producers in the region, and the vast majority of the wine produced is inexpensive, entry-level Bordeaux. However, there is a small, highly visible minority at the high end of the market – the <\/span>Grand Cru Class\u00e9<\/span><\/i> of Bordeaux.<\/span><\/p>\n

In simple terms, a \u201cGrand Cru\u201d Bordeaux is a ch\u00e2teau that has been listed on one of several official classification systems. Bordeaux itself is divided into numerous geographical subzones, and most top subzones have a Grand Cru ranking of some kind. No classification covers the entire Bordeaux region. The most famous is the <\/span>1855 classification<\/b><\/a>, which is an official tiered system applied to the top producers of the M\u00e9doc and Sauternes regions in that year.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Bordeaux Grand Cru Class\u00e9 rankings<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s look now at each of the Grand Cru rankings of Bordeaux. With the notable exception of<\/span> Pomerol<\/b><\/a>, all of the key fine wine subzones of Bordeaux are covered by one Grand Cru classification or another.<\/span><\/p>\n

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M\u00e9doc Grand Cru Class\u00e9<\/strong><\/h2>\n