KNOWLEDGE · CHAPTER 02
Wine classifications
Every wine region has its own hierarchy. Here are the most important — as pyramids, with what they mean in the glass, and with examples from the atlas.
Six systems, six logics — yet the top always means origin.
01GERMANY · VDP · SINCE 2012
The vineyard over ripeness
The VDP represents around 200 top German estates. Since 2012 a four-tier, Burgundy-inspired system focuses on origin — a response to the legal Prädikat system, which says more about must weight than about site.
- VDP.GROSSE LAGE= Grand Cru · dry: Großes Gewächs (GG)
- VDP.ERSTE LAGE= Premier Cru · classified single vineyards
- VDP.ORTSWEIN= Village · village-typical
- VDP.GUTSWEIN= Regional · estate base
- VDP.Große Lage
- Top tier — historically recognised peak sites. Dry wines are called Großes Gewächs (GG), released the September after harvest. Nobly sweet wines keep their Prädikat.
- VDP.Erste Lage
- Premier Cru equivalent: classified single vineyards with distinct climate and soil.
- VDP.Ortswein
- Wine from the village, village-typical — like Village in Burgundy.
- VDP.Gutswein
- Estate base from the overall holdings, the entry point.
02GERMANY · WINE LAW · SINCE 1971
Prädikat — the ripeness ladder
Alongside the VDP runs the legal Prädikat system: six ripeness levels measured by must weight in °Oechsle. Crucially, the Prädikat says nothing about sweetness — a Spätlese can be dry or nobly sweet. It describes ripeness at harvest.
- TROCKENBEERENAUSLESE≥ 150–154 °Oe · noble-rot single berries
- EISWEIN≥ 110–128 °Oe · harvested frozen on the vine
- BEERENAUSLESE≥ 110–128 °Oe
- AUSLESE≥ 83–100 °Oe
- SPÄTLESE≥ 76–90 °Oe
- KABINETT≥ 67–82 °Oe
- Must weight
- Minimums vary by region and grape — Mosel Riesling Kabinett may ripen lower (67 °Oe) than Palatinate Cabernet.
- Dry or sweet?
- Not in the Prädikat. 'Trocken', 'feinherb' or the VDP suffix GG indicate the style.
Examples from the atlas
1855 Médoc classification
Saint-Émilion (since 1955, revised)
03FRANCE · BORDEAUX · 1855 / 1955 / 1959
Four systems, one region
Bordeaux classifies the château, not the vineyard — and each sub-region uses its own system: the frozen 1855 ranking in the Médoc and Sauternes, the regularly revised Saint-Émilion classification, the Crus Classés de Graves — and Pomerol, which deliberately has none.
1855 Médoc classification
- PREMIER GRAND CRU CLASSÉ5 estates: Lafite, Latour, Mouton, Margaux, Haut-Brion
- DEUXIÈME GRAND CRU CLASSÉ14 estates · the 'super seconds'
- TROISIÈME & QUATRIÈME14 + 10 estates
- CINQUIÈME GRAND CRU CLASSÉ18 estates incl. Pontet-Canet, Lynch-Bages
Saint-Émilion (since 1955, revised)
- PREMIER GRAND CRU CLASSÉ AApex — currently Figeac & Pavie
- PREMIER GRAND CRU CLASSÉ B~12 estates
- GRAND CRU CLASSÉ~70 estates
- SAINT-ÉMILION GRAND CRU AOCAppellation, not a classified rank
- 1855 (Médoc)
- Drawn up for the Paris World Fair by market price, virtually frozen since — the only promotion ever: Mouton Rothschild in 1973.
- 1855 (Sauternes)
- A separate sweet-wine ranking with Château d'Yquem as the sole Premier Cru Supérieur.
- Saint-Émilion
- Revised roughly every decade — with drama: in 2021/22 Cheval Blanc, Ausone and Angélus withdrew; Figeac was promoted to A.
- Graves (1959)
- Crus Classés for red and/or white (Haut-Brion, La Mission, Smith Haut Lafitte, Pape Clément) — a list without tiers.
- Pomerol
- Has no classification — yet is home to Pétrus and Le Pin, among the world's most expensive wines. Here the market does the ranking.
- Cru Bourgeois
- Médoc estates below the 1855 ranks, three tiers again since 2020 — the value segment.
04FRANCE · BURGUNDY · AOC SINCE 1936
The mother of all classifications
The Burgundy system is the template for most European classifications. The vineyard is the central element — wine takes its name from the site, not the producer or grape (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are a given).
- GRAND CRU33 vineyards · ~1.5% of production
- PREMIER CRU~660 climats · ~10%
- VILLAGE44 AOC villages · ~37%
- RÉGIONALBourgogne, Mâcon · ~50%
- Grand Cru
- Romanée-Conti, La Tâche, Le Montrachet, Chambertin, Musigny — the label shows only the vineyard, no village.
- Premier Cru
- Classified single vineyards — label shows village + climat (Gevrey-Chambertin Les Cazetiers).
- Village
- One of 44 village appellations: Vosne-Romanée, Chambolle-Musigny, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet.
- Régional
- Bourgogne, Hautes Côtes, Mâcon, Crémant — the entry level from all of Burgundy.
05FRANCE · ALSACE · GRAND CRU SINCE 1975
Varietal classification
Alsace combines German tradition (varietal wines, grape on the label) with the French AOC hierarchy. Its own speciality: Vendanges Tardives and Sélection de Grains Nobles for nobly sweet top wines.
- SÉLECTION DE GRAINS NOBLESBotrytis berries · highest sweetness
- VENDANGES TARDIVESLate harvest · overripe
- ALSACE GRAND CRU51 classified vineyards
- ALSACE AOCBase appellation, varietal
- Alsace Grand Cru
- 51 sites, only four 'noble' varieties allowed: Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Muscat. Yields capped at 55 hl/ha.
- Vendanges Tardives
- Late harvest — longer on the vine, higher ripeness; sweetness possible, not required.
- Sélection de Grains Nobles
- Noble-rot selection — extremely concentrated, comparable to BA/TBA or Sauternes.
Examples from the atlas
06AUSTRALIA · LANGTON'S · SINCE 1990
The market classifies
Australia has no official vineyard classification. Instead: Geographical Indications for origin — and Langton's Classification, a private but globally respected ranking of top wines by auction and secondary-market performance, reviewed every 5–7 years since 2018.
- EXCEPTIONAL21 Australian wine icons
- OUTSTANDING~50 labels
- EXCELLENT~150 labels
- DISTINGUISHED~150 labels
- Langton's
- Ranks wines, not sites — and measures what collectors actually pay.
- GI
- Geographical Indication: protected origin like Margaret River or Great Southern, without a quality tier.
Examples from the atlas
TRANSLATION TABLE
Direct comparison
Master one region's vocabulary and you will find your way in the others — the top tiers are functionally equivalent.
| Tier | Germany (VDP) | Bordeaux | Burgundy | Alsace |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ★★★★ | VDP.Große Lage / GG | 1er Grand Cru Classé | Grand Cru | Grand Cru / SGN |
| ★★★ | VDP.Erste Lage | Grand Cru Classé | Premier Cru | Lieu-dit / VT |
| ★★ | VDP.Ortswein | Cru Bourgeois | Village | Alsace AOC + Ort |
| ★ | VDP.Gutswein | Bordeaux AOC | Régional | Alsace AOC |
KEY IDEA
A Grand Cru is a parcel in Burgundy, a château in Bordeaux — and in Germany a vineyard.
Know the pyramid and you can read any label — and understand why a Premier Cru in Saint-Émilion is not the same as on the Côte de Nuits.
See the Bordeaux classification live →6
Systems explained
61
1855 Crus Classés
200+
VDP estates