🏷️ Échelle des crus
A percentage rating of Champagne villages: 17 grand cru and 42 premier cru.
The Champagne échelle des crus is a rating of the villages where grapes for Champagne grow. Each village is given a percentage, which shows its place in the hierarchy.
Villages rated 100% are called grand cru. There are 17 of them. Villages rated 90–99% are premier cru, and there are 42. The rest get below 90%. In the past the percentage directly affected the price of grapes: the higher the rating, the more growers were paid. Today it is more a sign of the reputation of a place.
The scale rates a village, not an individual vineyard. This differs from the Burgundian system, where individual plots receive their own status. The scale belongs to wine classes and is linked with the term "grand cru" in general. A grand cru or premier cru mark on a Champagne label says the grapes were grown in such a village. It is part of the wider story of French appellations.
How it connects to Wine
🏷️ Échelle des crus → kind of → 🏷️ Grand cru → kind of → 🏷️ Wine classifications → kind of → 🍷 Wine
Links
- Part of
- 🏷️ Grand cru
- Where it applies
- 🗺️ French wine
- Similar and different
- 🍷 Champagne, 🏷️ Grand cru
Frequently asked questions
What is the Champagne échelle des crus?
It is a percentage rating of villages: 17 grand cru at 100% and 42 premier cru at 90–99%.
How many grand cru villages are there in Champagne?
Seventeen.
Does the scale apply to single vineyards?
No, it rates whole villages.
Similar
🏷️ Premier cru · 🏷️ Burgundy Grand Cru · 🏷️ Alsace Grand Cru · 🏷️ VDQS · 🏷️ Cru Artisan · 🏷️ Appellation d'origine contrôlée
⚠️ Wine contains alcohol: adults only, drink in moderation. Wine usually contains sulphites; egg white or milk proteins are sometimes used for fining — important for allergies and for vegans.