If you’ve every shopped for French wine, you’ll find their wine labels can be quite different than those in the U.S. And, somewhat confusing. With French wines, and others, the term Cru can show up on the label. So, let take a look at what that term means.

Simply translated, Cru means growth. Typically, it refers to a special or unique growing area. Somewhat like an American AVA (e.g., Napa Valley), a French Cru can be a growing site or it can be a larger region of land that includes many vineyards and wineries. This term is also closely tied to the French term terrior that sums up the entirety of the location, soil, climate and elevation of a wine growing region.

The term Cru can also have different meaning within France’s wine regions, just as it can also be applied differently in other countries. And to make things even more confusing, the term isn’t regulated outside of France.

So, next time we’ll look at how the term Cru is applied to wines from Burgundy and Bordeaux. Until then, Cheers!