Village Wine
In Burgundy, a wine from a single named village commune, one level above generic regional wine and below Premier Cru in the quality hierarchy.
In depth
Burgundy's quality hierarchy has four levels: from broadest to most specific, these are: Régionale (Bourgogne), Village (communale), Premier Cru, and Grand Cru. Village wines sit at the third tier and make up the majority of named Burgundy sold commercially.
A village wine carries the name of its commune: Gevrey-Chambertin, Pommard, Meursault, Chablis (village level), Nuits-Saint-Georges. These wines come from vineyards within the commune boundary but not classified as Premier or Grand Cru. Quality can be excellent and style is more terroir-specific than generic Bourgogne.
Some villages add the name of their most famous Grand Cru to their village name to increase prestige: Gevrey added "Chambertin", Aloxe added "Corton", Puligny added "Montrachet". This marketing convention can confuse students — Gevrey-Chambertin village wine is not Chambertin Grand Cru.
For the exam, be able to distinguish the four Burgundy hierarchy levels and name examples at each tier.
Related exam topics
Frequently asked questions
- What are the four levels of the Burgundy classification?
- From broadest to most specific: 1) Régionale (e.g. Bourgogne Blanc) — grapes from anywhere in Burgundy; 2) Village/Communale (e.g. Meursault) — grapes from a named village; 3) Premier Cru (e.g. Meursault Premier Cru "Charmes") — named vineyard within a village; 4) Grand Cru (e.g. Montrachet) — the finest individual vineyards, carrying only the vineyard name.
- Why do some Burgundy villages have hyphenated names?
- Many Burgundy villages added the name of their most famous vineyard to their commune name in the 19th century to enhance their prestige. For example, Gevrey became Gevrey-Chambertin, and Puligny became Puligny-Montrachet. This can be confusing — a Gevrey-Chambertin village wine is entirely different from Chambertin Grand Cru.
Related terms
Practise questions on this topic
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