Burgundy has a higher number of appellations d'origine contrôlée (AOCs) than any other French region, and is often seen as the most terroir-conscious of the French wine regions.
The various Burgundy AOCs are classified from carefully delineated Grand Cru vineyards down to more non-specific regional appellations. The practice of delineating vineyards by their terroir in Burgundy go back to Medieval times, when various monasteries played a key role in developing the Burgundy wine industry.
The Cote d’Or is divided into two main viticultural regions, the Cote de Nuits and the Cote de Beaune, the Cote de Nuits being the more northerly of the two.
Burgundy is in some ways the most terroir-oriented region in France; immense attention is paid to the area of origin, and in which of the region's 400 types of soil a wine's grapes are grown. Burgundy classifications are geographically-focused. A specific vineyard or region will bear a given classification, regardless of the wine's producer.
This focus is reflected on the wine's labels where appellations are most prominent and producer's names often appear at the bottom in much smaller text.
The main levels in the Burgundy classifications, in descending order of quality, are: Grand crus, Premier crus, village appellations, and finally regional appellations.
A map of the wine regions of Burgundy