New Crémant de Bourgogne Ranking System

A new ranking system for Crémant de Bourgogne has been approved by Burgundy producers and will include ‘Eminent’ and ‘Grand Eminent’ levels.

Producers following certain rules will be able to add ‘Eminent’ or ‘Grand Eminent’ to their bottle labels.

Crémant de Bourgogne Eminent wines must be aged on lees for at least 24 months.

Grand Eminent wines must adhere to several rules including:

Grape varieties can only be Pinot Noir and Chardonnay for white crémants, but up to 20% of Gamay can be used for rosé wines.
36 months of ageing on lees
Dosage, or residual sugar, must be below 15g per litre (Brut)
Only the first 75% of juice extracted during pressing can be used

Around 1 in 10 bottles of wine produced in Burgundy is Crémant de Bourgogne. 17 million bottles were sold globally in 2015.