Cru is a French wine term used to define a vineyard or group of vineyards, especially one of recognized quality. Champagne is strictly produced from the grapes grown in 319 villages, referred to as crus, that were traditionally scaled according to the quality of their grapes, and divided, in the crus scale, in grands crus (17 villages), premiers crus (42 villages) and other crus (260 villages).
If you want to learn more about the Champagne terroir and production process, and about the best Champagne houses and wines, check out our extensive Champagne Guide on Amazon.
