I have a some bottles of 1976 Domaine A. Ropiteau-Mignon Clos De Vougeot.
Interesting it mentions Appelation Controlee but no mention of Grand Cru.
I am aware of non Grand Cru Vougeot vineyards, but isn’t everything labeled Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru?
Whites aren’t grand cru
It’s a red
Doesn’t always need to say Grand Cru. If one knows the vineyard, you know it’s g Cru. I believe it’s not required to be on the label.
tell that to Batard or Montrachet.
The white vougeot isn’t grand cru.
Maybe this is the right answer to a question here…maybe not:
At some point, all labels had ‘appellation controlee’ somewhere on the label…like the pic above.
Then, some point along the way (I forget when), this changed to ‘appellation Clos Vougeot Grand Cru controlee’ or ‘appellation Clos Vougeot 1er Cru controlee’ or ‘appellation Beaune 1er Cru controlee’ or…or…or…
If this is what you’re talking about, you bought too old a bottle. I’d be happy to relieve your stress and take it off your hands…lol 
If it’s not what you were talking about…oops!
My understanding was that if it was a 1er from Clos Vougeot it would actually say Vougeot 1er or Vougeot Premier Cru. That it says Clos de Vougeot suggests it’s bottled under the Grand Cru regulations for that vineyard.
Still as you note it’s a pretty old bottle at this point and per Alan’s note it sounds like maybe Grand Cru is not always stated. I just hasn’t seen such before.
Ah right…what Alan said! Woo Hoo.
There is no such thing as 1er cru from Clos de Vougeot. All clos de Vougeot is grand cru. Vougeot 1er cru is outside Clos de Vougeot on Vougeot commune outside the walls.
Actually from a certain vintage onwards - I think it was around 1986/87 - it was required to use the words GRAND CRU on all labels of Grand Cru AC … and accordingly “Premier Cru” for 1er Crus …
Before that time it wasn´t necessary, so your Clos Vougeot label is absolutely legal. In these old days it was also possible to indicate the difference betwen Village and 1er Cru by using smaller and larger letters resp. for the vineyard designation (and that was quite unclear in some cases), but now 1er Cru (Premier Cru) has to be there.
If you ask me “what about DRC” … Grand Cru is on the back label - which is actually the main label legally.
And of course above is correct: CLOS DE VOUGEOT ist always Grand Cru, all other Vougeots are not Clos de …
Please compare:
I guess the whites are made just north of the Clos.
Antoine,
I don’t think that’s true. I believe a wine from grapes planted exclusively in Clos de Vougeot can be labled Vougeot 1er Cru if A. The producer chooses to (not sure why they would) B. It is made with disallowed grapes for the Grand Cru AOC C. It is made with higher yields, lower potential acohol or younger vine age than allowed in the AOC (most likely).
I could be wrong though, this is not my area of expertise.
I suppose you are right that wine can be declassified from Grand cru to 1er cru (as do De Vogue with some Musigny)… but then it cannot call it Clos de Vougeot. This will be a domaine decision… not aware whether this is done, but probably possible.
Each grand cru is its own Appellation d’Origine Controlée. So Clos Vougeot Grand Cru is actually a tautology - if it’s Clos Vougeot AOC, it’s grand cru. If it had been declassified it would loose the Clos Vougeot appellation and go to the next rung of the AOC ladder: that would be, in this case, Vougeot 1er Cru AOC.
BTW, you guys have evidently not been in the habit of reading your labels very closely. None of the DRC wines, for example, say “Grand Cru” on the label…
Ah I missed this comprehensive response! Thank you, Gerhard!
But William, that’s how I know my bottles of Duval-Blochet are real! 