Picture the most gerrymandered congressional district imaginable, and that will give you some idea of Burgundy's viticultural map. Among the Burgundians, the notion of terroir—the idea that certain plots of land are more privileged than others, with better soil, exposure, drainage, etc. and that wines should derive most of their character from the particular patch of land in which they were conceived—is both an article of faith and an organizing principle.

The vineyards, usually shared by multiple wineries, are categorized according to the caliber of their dirt, supposedly determined by centuries of trial and error. The best, like Musigny, are designated grands crus, those from the next best are labeled premiers crus. In all, there are 30 grands crus (which account for only around 1 percent of the region's total output) and over 450 premiers crus.