Champagne Grand Cru

In Champagne, Grand Cru refers not to a parcel but to an entire village. L'échelle des crus arose from negotiations over grape prices: after the winegrowers' revolt in April 1911, houses and delegates from the grand cru villages reached an agreement in Reims in September, resulting in a scale of 194 crus. Eleven were rated 100%: Ambonnay, Avize, Aÿ, Beaumont-sur-Vesle, Bouzy, Cramant, Louvois, Sillery and, for black grapes only, Tours-sur-Marne, Mailly and Verzenay; at the bottom, four villages in the Aisne at 22.55%. Each village received its percentage of the base price.

The scale became common to growers and houses in 1919, mandatory from 1935 and managed by the CIVC from 1941; Puisieulx reached 100% in the 1940s. The decree of July 1, 1952 reserved «grand cru» for villages rated 100% and «premier cru» for those rated from 90 to 100%; in 1985, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Oiry, Verzy and Chouilly rose to the top, and the Grand Cru villages numbered seventeen. Mandatory pricing ended in 1990, indicative pricing in 2000; the échelle was abandoned from the 2004 harvest, and the 2010 regulations established the two designations as lists of villages. Today, «Grand Cru» guarantees that all the grapes come from these seventeen villages; the village name is added only if they all come from there.

All in the Marne. In the Montagne de Reims: Ambonnay, Beaumont-sur-Vesle, Bouzy, Louvois, Mailly-Champagne, Puisieulx, Sillery, Verzenay and Verzy. In the Côte des Blancs: Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger and Oiry. In the Vallée de la Marne: Aÿ and Tours-sur-Marne. Together, they account for about 4,520 UMC hectares, 13% of the vineyard: from Chouilly, with 526, to Puisieulx, with 19.

At STELT, you’ll find Grand Cru wines from all three areas, from Blanc de Blancs from the Côte des Blancs to wines from the Montagne de Reims and Aÿ: the bottles are listed below.