Wine Classifications

Your guide to understanding wine classifications (or, how to read a wine list)

Picture the scene. You’re sitting in a smart restaurant, with someone you’re keen to impress, and you’re handed the wine list. Now you love wine, but are by no means a connoisseur. So… Bordeaux, perhaps? What’s this – a St Julien 4ème grand cru classé. Is that a good thing? A bad thing? It’s a bit pricey… How about this one – a Cru Bourgeois. What does that mean?? Ah, Bordeaux Supérieur, that sounds impressive… But why so cheap? Hmm… maybe we’ll try Burgundy instead. Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru. Premier – top of the tree, right? Sounds good. But hang on, why is the Vosne-Romanée Grand Cru more expensive?

It’s easy to understand why many people, in such a scenario, default to an Aussie Shiraz. Lay & Wheeler customers, of course, will doubtless have more than a passing knowledge of the intricacies of the various wine classifications. But we can all do with a primer from time to time. So consider this your one-stop shop to knowing your DOC from your DOCG, and much more in between.

Appellation or Classification – what’s the difference?

The first thing to say is that wine classifications are not the same thing as wine appellations. Appellations dictate the make-up of a wine from a particular region, whereas classifications go some way to ranking such wines, based on their quality. So while Pauillac is an appellation that is home to three of Bordeaux’s vaunted first growths, is also yields its fair share of bog-standard plonk that is Pauillac in name only.

Appellations dictate certain parameters to which producers must adhere in order to put the name of that region on the label, thereby giving consumers an idea of the style they can expect from the wine. The obvious elements here are geographical – the wine must be produced within the borders of that region – and then stylistic, via the use of only proscribed grape varieties, along with certain other stipulations. So in Pauillac – and all red Bordeaux appellations – that means using any of up to six grape varieties in the blend (the most common being Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot – though others are soon to be added to the permitted list, to mitigate climate change).

The most famous appellation is perhaps Champagne – which allows nine different grape varieties, even though the vast majority of producers use only Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. It also imposes a host of winemaking techniques, most notably the traditional method of adding bubbles to its wines, via second fermentation in bottle (woe betide any producer from further afield which uses the name ‘Champagne’ in any of its marketing, including even to reference this technique).

Some appellations try to attain a certain consistency by imposing certain viticultural rules, such as maximum yields, or a ban on practices such as chaptalisation (the adding of sugar) or irrigation (the reputed Pomerol property Château Lafleur recently quit the regional appellation in protest at not being able to irrigate). And this is where things get more complicated…

Understanding DOCs and DOCGs – European classifications

Many European appellations embrace varying levels of quality criteria. In Italy, regional appellations are graded as DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) and the more elite DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita), the latter held to more stringent winemaking requirements and the wines vetted by government committees. All the top Italian regions – Barolo, Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti Classico – are DOCGs. But even then, this doesn’t mean that every single Barolo is going to be of unimpeachable quality. And for those regions which have since tried to introduce more detailed rankings, it often seems more trouble than it’s worth.

Take Chianti, which is itself split into two DOCGs. The broader Chianti DOCG is further split into seven sub-zones, such as Chianti Rufina and Chianti Fiorentini. Meanwhile, the more prestigious Chianti Classico DOCG, symbolised by the black rooster on the label, is split into the Annata, Riserva and new Gran Selezione categories. The latter was introduced in 2014, to sit at the top of the tree, though in reality, it is a self-arbitered designation that simply signifies a producer’s top wine, in its own eyes – possibly, but not necessarily, sourced from a single site.

Then there are IGT wines, introduced in 1992 as a way of recognising the so-called ‘Super Tuscans’ being made from grape varieties not permitted in the local DOC or DOCG but that were clearly of a greater quality than the alternative categorisation, the lowly Vino di Tavola. IGT stands for Indicazione Geografica Tipica, and is home to some innovative bottlings  – though again, not every Super Tuscan is in the same league as Sassicaia or Ornellaia, and there are both good and bad examples of the genre.

In a bid to further ape the all-conquering Burgundian model, in 2010 Italy ratified numerous MGAs (‘Menzione Geografica Aggiuntiva’), finally permitting more precise subzones to appear on the label. Barolo, already split into 11 recognised communes, is now further demarcated into MGAs, or crus – of which it alone has 170. That model is replicated in the multiple zoning projects seen across the country today, from Barbaresco to Etna, Chianti to Soave. Unlike Burgundy, though, such crus are not classified, so this is a zoning, rather than ranking, exercise. In regions such as Valpolicella and Montalcino, by contrast, there are as yet no official sub-regions, with individual wineries instead defining any single-vineyard wines via their brand name.

Rioja  quality classifications – Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva

Rioja’s traditionally made wines have long been split into their own classification system – most wine lovers will be familiar with the Crianza-Reserva-Gran Reserva scale. But again, such categories are mere indicators of style (based on the length of ageing) rather than a guarantee of quality. Indeed some modern producers which are less keen on the traditional oak-aged style are releasing their top-end wines under the basic ‘generico’ classification, to showcase a more fruit-driven style. Other Rioja bodegas have embraced the Viñedos Singulares concept, which classifies wines made from single vineyards that meet specific criteria beyond the standard DOCa rules, from older vines to lower yields, to production by a dedicated team at an individual winery. None of these wines is strictly ranked for quality, though, as happens in Bordeaux or Burgundy.

Perhaps the closest to the French modus operandi is Germany, with its Grosses Gewächs. Audited by the country’s wine-governing body, the VDP, the system designates the top dry wines from the best single vineyards as Grosse Lage, or grand cru. In so doing, it classifies the wines by both style and quality, as well as identifying them as coming from a specific site.

Bordeaux and the famous 1855 Classification

Such criteria are integral to the purest – and most famous – wine classifications, which are found in France. And the most famous of all, of course, is the 1855 classification of Bordeaux. 1855 saw the Exposition Universelle de Paris held in the French capital, for which Emperor Napoleon III stipulated that the Médoc’s top producers be classified by quality. The top 58 châteaux (now 61, after some splitting of properties) were ranked as first to fifth growths, or crus, with just four properties designated as first growths (including, somewhat incongruously, Château Haut-Brion, which lies in Pessac-Léognan). The classification has remained unchanged ever since (apart from the 1973 elevation of Château Mouton-Rothschild from second growth to first growth after some concerted lobbying from Baron Philippe de Rothschild). As a result, the standing of the top châteaux has become something of a self-fulfilling prophecy, a virtuous circle whereby their elevated status allows them to charge higher prices, and then re-invest the profits in making ever better wines.

Other Bordeaux appellations have their own classifications. St-Emilion’s, which categorises producers as Premier Grand Cru Classé levels ‘A’ and B’; Grand Cru Classé; and simply Grand Cru, is reviewed and revised every ten years, with the resultant controversy and even legal proceedings that must make the Médoc thankful that its ranking is set in stone. The sweet whites of Sauternes and Barsac were also graded with the original 1855 classification, while Pessac demarcated its top 16 estates as Graves Crus Classés a century later, in 1959. Pomerol, by contrast, has never ranked its producers (though that hasn’t stopped the likes of Petrus, Vieux Château Certan and Lafleur being held aloft as indisputably in the top rank).

Below these headliners are the 170 great-value wines of the Médoc Cru Bourgeois, a ranking which is reviewed every five years and which includes 36 Cru Bourgeois Supérieur and 14 Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel. A plain Bordeaux Supérieur, by contrast, despite its lofty name, is home to any Bordeaux that reaches fairly unremarkable levels of production (maximum yield, minimum ageing and minimum vine age) to differentiate it from the even more humble AOC Bordeaux.

Burgundy – where vineyard, not producer, is King

If that all seems fairly straightforward, then we come to Burgundy. And, this being France, a grand cru in Burgundy is not the same as a grand cru in Bordeaux. Indeed, forget the ‘grand’ element – even a ‘cru’ in Burgundy is not the same as a ‘cru’ in Bordeaux. In Burgundy, it is the vineyard that is ranked, not the producer. And, of course, most vineyards are split between various different domaines. Hence why you’ll find a Domaine Matrot Meursault Premier Cru Les Perrières and also a Domaine Michelot Meursault Premier Cru Les Perrières – same vineyard, different producer. Equally, the same producer might own both premier cru and grand cru land within the same appellation – so Domaine Fourrier makes both a premier-cru Gevrey Chambertin and a grand-cru Gevrey Chambertin. (Grand cru, in case it wasn’t clear by now, is the top of the tree in Burgundy, with premier cru the next rung down – unlike in Bordeaux’s 1855 classification which, perhaps more logically, ranks its crus (producers, not vineyards) numerically.)

Alsace has the same vineyard-ranked model as Burgundy – though it is widely seen as more generous in its verdicts, with several relatively large and inconsistent vineyards graded as grand cru in their entirity. Champagne’s vineyards are also split into premiers and grands crus, though since most Champagnes are blended from multiple sites, such rankings play a less integral role in the region’s broader picture compared to the brand name.

Southern Hemisphere – simplicity is the key

Most southern hemisphere countries survive perfectly happily without any strict classifications at all. Even the US’s AVAs (American Viticultural Areas) and South Africa’s Wines of Origin don’t require adherence to specific grape varieties or practices, and are largely just confirmation that a wine has been made in the place detailed on the label. Instead, from Australia to Chile, New Zealand to Argentina, wines are generally known by their region, grape variety and brand, and live and die on their reputation. And much like the 1855 classification, which was based almost entirely around the wines’ price, the market seems to find a way of coming to its own ranking. Sometimes, simplicity is a wonderful thing…