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Burgundy (Bourgogne) is a comparatively small, cool, northerly wine region in northeastern France that makes some of the world's most sought-after, expensive and exquisite wines — just over 66,000 acres (26,700 hectares) of vines, roughly a quarter the size of Bordeaux.

Two grapes dominate: virtually all top white Burgundy is CHARDONNAY and virtually all top red Burgundy is PINOT NOIR, each grown unblended because both reach their greatest elegance in a cool climate — and Burgundy is the coolest, most northern of the world's great red-wine regions, giving reds that are intensely flavored yet light to medium in body with a gossamer gracefulness.

Above all Burgundy is a study in TERROIR: over centuries Benedictine and Cistercian monks delineated the vineyards plot by plot, establishing terroir as the core of viticulture.

Grand Cru ("great growth") is the highest official vineyard classification in several French wine regions, each with its own legally defined system.

In Burgundy, 33 Grand Cru vineyards (about 1.4% of the region's production) are classified directly at the vineyard level under INAO appellation law, sitting above Premier Cru, Village, and Regional tiers.

In Champagne, Grand Cru is a village-level ranking under the historic échelle des crus system: 17 villages hold Grand Cru status, entitling grapes grown there to the designation.