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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.

Premier Cru ("first growth") sits one level below Grand Cru in the French classification systems that use the term.

In Burgundy, roughly 640 Premier Cru vineyard sites (about 10% of the region's production) are classified above Village-level wines but below the 33 Grand Crus, again under INAO appellation law tied to specific, named parcels.

In Champagne, Premier Cru is a village-level rank under the échelle des crus system: 42 villages hold Premier Cru status, one tier below the 17 Grand Cru villages.