Key facts
Located in subregion/area: Côte des Blancs / Côte des Blancs
Vineyards and grape varieties: 190.8 hectares (471.5 acres), of which 90.7% Chardonnay, 7.6% Pinot Meunier, and 1.6% Pinot Noir.
Classification: Premier cru (95%)
Grauves is located some 8 km south of Épernay, on the “back side” of the actual Côte des Blancs slope, in a valley formed by the stream Le Darcy. Le Darcy originates in Grauves and flows to northwest into the area Côteaux Sud d’Épernay. A forested area separates Grauves from the other villages in the Côte des Blancs.
Other than the Grauves village itself, the commune also contains the hamlets of Le Grand Pré, Montgrimaux, and Le Darcy.
The name Grauves is derived from the Latin grava, meaning gravel. A local nickname of the village is “Royal Coteau” since forest surrounds surrounds Grauves on several sides, a bit like a royal crown. Actually, a horse shoe would be a better description of the shape of the edge of the forest around the village, but perhaps too prosaic.
The Grauves commune covers 784 hectares and has 675 inhabitants (as of 2012), referred to as Gravriots and Graviotes.The vineyards in Grauves are located around the village, on both banks of the stream Le Darcy. The slopes vary but include southwest-facing slopes on the right bank and northeast-facing slopes on the left bank. Chardonnay is the dominating grape variety.
The current vineyard surface in the Grauves commune is 190.8 hectares (471.5 acres). There are 173.1 ha Chardonnay (90.7%), 14.5 ha Pinot Meunier (7.6%), 3.1 ha Pinot Noir (1.6%), and 0,1 ha other (<0.1%). Numbers from CIVC, as of 2013. In 1997, the vineyard surface was 185 ha. There are 191 vineyard owners (exploitants) in the commune.
The premier cru status
On the now defunct échelle des crus scale, where 100% = grand cru and 90-99% = premier cru, a smaller number of villages had different numbers for white and black grapes, i.e., for Chardonnay and for Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Grauves was one of them, with 95% for white grapes and 90% for black grapes, which in both cases meant premier cru status. Grauves has kept this premier cru following the abolishment of the échelle des crus, just like other villages that achieved it.
Source: winetomas