From the verb “to grow”, the notion of cru is old and intrinsically linked to that of terroir: it is the place where the vine grows. Over time, it has become necessary to classify the crus according to the quality of the grapes they produce. In Champagne, a cru is attached to a commune. In the region, it is the scale of crus that determines the price of grapes per village, and this since 1911.
Before the appearance of the concept of cru, the first consecration of the Champagne terroir came with the name of “champagne wine” which dates back to the 17th century. Then, in 1887 the Angers Court of Appeal issued a ruling which granted the exclusivity of the word Champagne to wines produced in Champagne. In 1905, following a request from the people of Champagne to the Ministry of Agriculture, Champagne only designated “wines harvested and handled entirely in the Champagne wine region”. As mentioned, the scale of the Champagne vintages was created in 1911. Sixteen years later: on July 22, 1927, the law delimiting the Champagne wine region was promulgated. For the purposes of this law, a census was conducted on the “municipalities capable of producing the wine of the appellation”. This resulted in the current principles of the delimitation of the Champagne wine region. It is more commonly referred to as the Appellation d’origine contrôlée, or AOC.
This 1927 delimitation is still in force today and establishes a wine-growing area covering an area of 35,280 hectares. As for the AOC, it extends over no less than 34,300 hectares. Four regions make up the Champagne vineyard: the Montagne de Reims, the Vallée de la Marne, the Côte des Blancs and finally the Côte des Bar. These four vineyards alone bring together 280,000 plots. Not all the vintages are equal: thus only 17 villages benefit from the “Grand Cru” designation while 42 others are classified as “Premier Cru”.
In this regard, the vineyards producing the grapes used in the blending of the RSRV vintages are divided between Cramant, Avize, Bouzy, Ay, Verzenay, Ambonnay and finally Verzy: 7 villages classified as Grand Cru. The RSRV collection could only be produced using grapes harvested exclusively on these terroirs, a guarantee of the quality of RSRV vintages.
