Michelin Launches 'Michelin Grape', Its First-Ever Wine Producer Selection: 94 Burgundy Domaines, 9 at the Top Tier
- First-ever Michelin wine selection 'Michelin Grape' debuts with Burgundy: 94 domaines (9 three-Grape, 20 two-Grape, 33 one-Grape, 32 selected)
- Positioned as Michelin's next specialty after restaurants and hotels; five criteria applied worldwide, judged by an independent international team
- Top tier: 5 Côte de Nuits and 4 Côte de Beaune domaines; Lalou Bize-Leroy the only producer with two 3-Grape estates (Leroy and d'Auvenay)
- Cécile Tremblay, founded 2003, reached the top tier — excellence not determined by name alone
- Watch secondary-market prices and allocations of rated domaines over the next 12 months; Japan regions entering future lists would boost wine tourism
Michelin announced on July 17 (via its Japan arm) the first-ever Michelin Guide selection for wine producers: 'Michelin Grape', debuting with Burgundy. Ninety-four domaines made the inaugural list — 9 at the top 3-Grape tier, 20 at 2 Grapes, 33 at 1 Grape, plus 32 'selected' — unveiled at Dijon's city hall, the former palace of the Dukes of Burgundy. Michelin frames it as its next specialty field 'following restaurants and hotels' (the Michelin Key hotel ratings launched in 2024), with an independent international expert team judging on five criteria — agronomy, technical mastery, identity, balance, and consistency across vintages — to be applied to every wine region worldwide. The 3-Grape tier spans Côte de Nuits (5) and Côte de Beaune (4), including DRC, Domaine Leroy and Domaine d'Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy is the only producer with two 3-Grape domaines), Roumier, Dugat-Py, and Cécile Tremblay, founded only in 2003 — a deliberate signal that excellence is not determined by name recognition alone. For Tokyo's fine-dining and luxury-hotel trade, where Burgundy anchors the wine list, expect the new label to reshape pricing narratives and allocations; and if Japanese regions like Yamanashi or Nagano enter future editions, wine tourism becomes the next story. Full list on Michelin's official site and app; figures cited from the July 17 press release.
