The French term means "growth". It attests to the special quality of a vineyard, a winery or a wine. It is mainly used in France, but also in other countries. There are different designations in France depending on the region, such as Cru Classé, Grand Cru and Premier Cru. Confusingly, it is not only the cru designations that differ from region to region, but also the number and order of quality levels. Other French designations for areas of outstanding quality are Climat, Clos, Côte and Lieu-dit. See comprehensive lists of all classification systems under Grand Cru, the country-specific wine quality hierarchies under Quality System and all vineyard-related keywords under Vineyard Area.
Serious sources on the internet are rare - and Wine lexicon from wein.plus is one such source. When researching for my articles, I regularly consult the wein.plus encyclopaedia. There I get reliable and detailed information.
Thomas Götz
Weinberater, Weinblogger und Journalist; Schwendi