Concept
Échelle des Crus
Champagne's classification system (~1911), originally a price scale of 80-100%. Since 2010 no longer a price mechanism, but the Grand Cru / Premier Cru labels remain.
What it is
The Échelle des Crus (French for “ladder of crus”) is Champagne’s classic vineyard classification system, introduced around 1911. Each village received a percentage between 80 and 100. One hundred percent meant Grand Cru, 90 to 99 percent Premier Cru, the rest standard.
How it worked
Not a quality medal but a price mechanism. Each harvest the Comité Champagne and the grower associations negotiated a base price for 100 percent grapes. A village at 95 percent classification received 95 percent of that base price. Simple, transparent, predictable for both growers and houses.
The system balanced growers (mostly small families) against the major négociants. For wine farmers in Verzy or Mailly the classification was a guarantee of fair payment. For houses like Moët or Krug it was a guarantee of calculable raw-material costs.
The original 12 Grand Cru villages
When the Échelle des Crus was officially established in 1911, twelve villages received 100 percent status:
- Ambonnay, Avize, Aÿ, Beaumont-sur-Vesle, Bouzy, Cramant, Louvois, Mailly-Champagne, Puisieulx, Sillery, Tours-sur-Marne, Verzenay
In 1985 five more were added: Chouilly, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Oiry, Verzy. Today there are 17 Grand Cru villages out of 319 in total.
Premier Cru
42 villages hold Premier Cru status (90 to 99 percent). Familiar names: Cumières, Hautvillers, Vertus, Villers-Marmery, Bisseuil, Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Dizy. Historically their grape prices sat between 90 and 99 percent of the Grand Cru rate.
Abolition as a pricing mechanism (2010)
From 1990 onward the EU pressed against regulated agricultural prices, and in 2010 the Échelle des Crus was formally abolished as a pricing system. Since then buyers (houses, cooperatives) negotiate plot by plot and grower by grower, without fixed percentage coupling.
What remains
The Grand Cru and Premier Cru terms remain legally protected for use on the label. A bottle of “Champagne Brut Grand Cru” still refers to grapes from 100 percent villages. But its price is now negotiable, no longer legally tied to the old scale.
For the drinker
“Grand Cru” or “Premier Cru” on a label has been a marketing and provenance label since 2010, not a price regulator. For grower-Champagnes it conveys real information; for blends from the big houses it rarely tells you much, because they mix grapes from many different crus.
Frequently asked questions
How many Grand Cru villages are there now?
17 in total. The original 12 from 1911 plus 5 added in 1985 (Chouilly, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Oiry, Verzy). Out of 319 wine-growing communes in Champagne that is roughly 5.3%.
Is a Grand Cru always better than a Premier Cru?
Not automatically. The classification originally addressed soil potential and historical grape quality, not every individual harvest. A well-made Premier Cru from a serious grower can outshine a routine Grand Cru blend from a large house. Especially relevant when older vineyard knowledge enters the picture.
Why was the Échelle abolished in 2010?
EU pressure under common agricultural policy. Set minimum prices were seen as cartel-forming. Since then houses and growers negotiate by plot, which favours larger players: small growers lost bargaining power. The Comité Champagne tries to soften this with reference prices but without legal force.