- v1.2.1 — The Rank Becomes the Price - 9 September 2026
Grand Cru: The Wine Maker — v1.2.1 Update Hello, winemakers! The v1.2.0 notes closed with a promise: rank effects on wine prices arrive in the next update. This is that update. The rank becomes the price A multiplier for every rank — from +5% at Cru Bourgeois up to +40% at Grand Cru, paid on every channel a named wine can leave by: local sales, wholesale, chef contracts, importer deals and the auction. Wine shipped unnamed is unchanged. The committee only reads wines that carry a name. The NPC estates are paid the same — Clos Valois collects the Grand Cru multiplier too. The register does not take sides. En primeur trades on the estate, not the bottle — a cask sold before bottling carries no name yet, so the price anchors to your estate's best rank instead of that one wine's. That is how Bordeaux prices its futures. A "Classement" row in "Why this price" — open any wine and see exactly…
- v1.2.0 — Le Classement: The Bordeaux Ranks - 19 August 2026
Grand Cru: The Wine Maker — v1.2.0 Update Hello, winemakers! Bordeaux had a classification long before you arrived. Time to get your name on it. Le Classement — the Bordeaux ranks (first release) A committee convenes every three winters — in years 3, 6, 9 and so on, it grades each of your brands on the wines bottled under that name over the past three years. Ranks never move between judgments. Four ranks — from Cru Bourgeois through Cru Classé and Premier Cru up to Grand Cru. Red or white, every wine competes on the same board, on score alone. The NPC estates are judged too — nine houses already hold their places when you start. Pulling Clos Valois off the top is your job. Existing saves join immediately — if you have three years of bottling history, loading your save runs the judgment you missed. No waiting: your place on the board is there. Unnamed wine is never judged — at bottling y…
- v1.1.0 — Steam Leaderboards - 13 August 2026
Grand Cru: The Wine Maker — v1.1.0 Update Bonjour, winemakers! Your winery now has somewhere to stand next to everyone else's. Steam Leaderboards Two global boards — Total Revenue (what your winery earned) and Most Expensive Wine (the highest price a single bottle of yours ever sold for). Both show your winery name next to your Steam name, and the top wine board names the bottle. Scores are what the market actually paid — not your list price, not the estimate at bottling. Only closed sales count. Ranks count from a new game — a save started before this update keeps playing exactly as it did, but it will not post scores. Start a new winery to compete. Your father's wine never counts — selling his bottles is not your work. That rule has always held for reputation and awards, and it holds here. Scores post once a year, at the end of winter, for your first 20 years. How the board stays hone…
- v1.0.2 — The Broker Now Sells Your Whole Cellar - 10 August 2026
Grand Cru: The Wine Maker — v1.0.2 Update Bonjour, winemakers! Everything in this patch came from players telling me what was wrong. Three separate people reported the same broker bug within two days. Bug Fixes The broker only sold the first wine on your list — Each buyer took one wine, and the code always started from the top of your cellar. If you had 40 different wines, the other 39 never got touched. Buyers now work through your cellar from different starting points, and each one keeps buying until their budget or their capacity runs out. "Harvest all" stopped without saying why — It was already stopping at whatever your action points and cash could cover, but the button only showed a smaller number. You saw 20 out of 70 and no reason. It now tells you which limit is active, and when cash is what stops you, it offers machine harvest instead. UI Your tasting room income is now visibl…
- v1.0.1 — Blending Fix: Merlot-Led 60:40 Now Works - 9 August 2026
Grand Cru: The Wine Maker — v1.0.1 Hotfix Bonjour, winemakers! Two of you reported the same thing within a day of launch, and you were both right. Blending was broken in a way that quietly blocked the heart of the 1.0 story. Here is the fix. Bug Fixes Blending forced the entire primary lot — A blend always poured in every bottle of the primary wine and only trimmed the partner. That meant a 60:40 blend needed a partner lot two thirds the size of your primary one. If you had grown a lot of Merlot, Merlot-led 60:40 became mathematically impossible, and Father's recipe (Pomerol Merlot 60, Cabernet Sauvignon 40) could not be recreated at all. Blending now uses only the bottles the ratio actually calls for. Leftover wine stays in your cellar — Bottles the blend does not use remain in the cask, aging as before, ready to bottle on their own. The blend panel now shows exactly how many bottles g…
- Grand Cru v1.0 — Full Release: The Vintage Comes Home - 8 August 2026
Grand Cru: The Wine Maker v1.0 — Full Release Bonjour, winemakers! Today, Grand Cru leaves Early Access. This is the story we set out to finish: inherit a struggling vineyard, survive the debt your father left behind, understand the wine he could never forget, and decide what his legacy becomes in your hands. v1.0 brings that journey to its conclusion. The Father's Legacy — Complete A Four-Year Promise — The debt is now a clear, persistent goal that follows your winery from its first winter to the day you finally close the ledger. The Father's Notebook — Taste, investigate, and piece together handwritten clues instead of following a simple quest marker. Recreate His Wine — Track down the right land, variety, process, and quality. Near misses become clues; a true recreation changes the story. Le Clos — Trace a forgotten deed, acquire the lost vineyard, restore it in three stages, and ope…
- v0.10.1 — Market Visitors & Clearer Deals - 24 July 2026
Grand Cru: The Wine Maker — v0.10.1 Update Bonjour, winemakers! A point update that brings your market to life — and clears up one of the sneakiest traps in the deal room. New — Market Visitors A Face at the Stall — Some seasons a stranger now turns up at your market: a wine student, a travelling chef, a foreign importer, and — rarely — a collector whose name you already know. Each visit is a small envelope to open. Rarity & Réseau — Visitors come in tiers, from everyday callers to once-in-a-long-while encounters. Growing your Réseau (networking) skill tilts the odds toward the rarer faces — but even a beginner can, once in a blue moon, meet a legend. Offers, Tips & Wagers — They might bring a reward, a piece of market intel, an introduction to a buyer next season, or a wager. One even bets on your palate: "Let's see if your tongue is as good as your wine." Your Tasting skill tilts that…
- v0.10.0 — See the Why Behind Every Price & Deal - 23 July 2026
Grand Cru: The Wine Maker — v0.10.0 Update Bonjour, winemakers! For too long the château kept its secrets. A buyer walked away and you never knew why. A bottle sold for a fortune — or a pittance — and the number just appeared. This update pulls back the curtain: v0.10.0 is all about seeing the why behind your economy. Gameplay Price Causality Panel — Every wine now reveals the full chain behind its price: base value, quality, reputation, aging, awards, and market demand, each shown as its own multiplier that closes cleanly to the final figure. No more mystery numbers. Buyer Compatibility Meter — Before you commit to a deal, read how well a buyer fits your wine — their style match and the score wall they expect — so you can tell a good offer from a bad one at a glance. Deal Reward Beat — Closing a sale now lands: a cash count-up, a reputation toast when you've earned it, a stamped seal a…
- v0.9.2 — Tasting Room Visual Polish - 22 July 2026
Grand Cru: The Wine Maker — v0.9.2 Update Bonjour, winemakers! A small patch with one purpose: making your Tasting Room feel handcrafted, not computer-drawn. Visual Polish Finished Edges — Tables, shelves, frames and the fireplace now catch candlelight along softly rounded edges, like real joinery. Deeper Shadows — New ambient shading settles the furniture into the room: shelves sit snug in their frames, barrels rest firmly on the floor. (High quality preset) Lived-in Walls — Plaster and panelling now carry subtle stains, worn skirting and the patina of use — every salon has poured a few thousand tastings. Fixes Wholesale Negotiation — When your Commerce skill is high enough to reveal a buyer's exact ceiling, the price slider now always reaches that figure. Previously it could stop short — leaving money on the table. Aside from that fix, no balance or save changes — and performance is u…
- v0.9.1 — Tasting Room Upkeep & Economy Fixes - 21 July 2026
Grand Cru: The Wine Maker — v0.9.1 Update Bonjour, winemakers! A focused patch that deepens the Tasting Room economy and smooths a few rough edges. Gameplay & Balance Tasting Room Upkeep — Each Tasting Room tier now carries a quarterly upkeep cost, tuned across a 50-year simulation. Prestige has a price to maintain. Total Cost of Ownership — Tier cards and the purchase confirmation now show the full ongoing cost, so there are no surprises after you sign. Bug Fixes Accurate Winter Forecast — The winter cost preview now matches what you're actually charged; barrel depreciation no longer counts bottled wine. Walk-in Sales — Walk-in retail premiums and season report totals now reconcile correctly. Cleaner Confirmation — Removed a duplicated price line in the tier purchase dialog. Restored Achievements — En Primeur and Grand Auction achievements are unlockable again. Merci, and see you in th…
- v0.9.0 — 3D Tasting Room + Reputation Ladder - 18 July 2026
Grand Cru: The Wine Maker — v0.9.0 Update Bonjour, winemakers! This is our biggest visual update yet — and the last big step before 1.0. Pour a glass and come have a look. Gameplay 3D Tasting Room — A brand-new, fully 3D room you can visit right from the sidebar. Candlelight, oak barrels, a wine rack along the wall, and a tasting table set with glasses and a decanter. The space grows richer as your estate climbs the tiers. Reputation Ladder — Your standing now follows one clear path: Newcomer → Established → Prestigious → Legendary. The status bar shows your current tier at a glance, so you always know how close the next rung is. Balance & Fixes Honest Storage Forecasts — The storage-cost forecast and the Finances tab now match your actual bill, tier for tier. No more surprises at the end of the season. A Note on Price With this milestone, Grand Cru moves to $12.99. If you've been waiti…
- v0.8.0 — The Season of Auctions - 9 July 2026
Grand Cru: The Wine Maker — v0.8.0 "The Season of Auctions" Bonjour, winemakers! Making great wine has always been the heart of Grand Cru. This update is about what comes after the bottle — the season your wine sells, the room where auctions are held, and the reputation that decides who is invited to bid. v0.8.0 opens a whole new season of auctions, and reweaves the economy beneath it. New Features — The Season of Auctions En Primeur — Autumn Futures — Importers arrive at harvest to buy wine still aging in your cellar, purchasing the promise of a vintage before it is finished. Every autumn, they compete to reserve your best barrels first. The Grand Auction — Winter Prestige — A single-lot winter auction for châteaux that have made their name. Consign your finest bottle and watch anonymous bidders from twenty nations and famed collectors drive the hammer price. The invitation is never re…
- v0.7.0 — Manage More, Sell Smoother - 2 July 2026
Grand Cru: The Wine Maker — v0.7.0 Update Bonjour, winemakers! As your estate grows, it should still feel like yours — not a chore list. This update keeps a bigger winery in hand: tend whole sections at once, let the cellar remember your craft, and never get blocked mid-sale again. Gameplay Section Field Care — Prune, manage the canopy, and treat for pests across an entire commune in a single action. No more tending plot by plot as your estate grows. Smart Brewing Canvas — Each batch now starts from your last settings for that grape variety — even on a new plot. Your craft, remembered. Vintage Almanac — A new Encyclopedia tab gradually reveals each year's weather as your meteorology skill grows. Read the vintage instead of guessing it. Blind Tasting — "A Familiar Touch" — When one of your own wines is in the lineup, subtle signature clues now reward the hands that made it — without ever…
- 🍷 Steam Summer Sale — Grand Cru is 20% Off - 25 June 2026
Grand Cru: The Wine Maker — 20% Off for the Steam Summer Sale Bonjour, winemakers! For the Steam Summer Sale, Grand Cru is 20% off from June 25 to July 9. If a friend has been lingering at the château gates — now is the moment to step inside. What awaits you Inherit a Bordeaux estate — Take over your father's vineyard and turn it into a name people remember. From soil to bottle — Plant, harvest, blend, age and bottle wines that carry the land and the season inside them. A living market — 25 unique buyers, tense negotiations, hard-won reputation, and the annual awards ceremony — now a cinematic visual novel in the brand-new v0.6.0 update. Make it yours — Design a one-of-a-kind label for every cuvée with the new layout editor. Just updated to v0.6.0 — the award ceremony reimagined and free label design. There has never been a better moment to plant your first vines. 20% off · June 25 – Ju…
- v0.6.2 — Competition & Negotiation Fixes - 24 June 2026
Grand Cru: The Wine Maker — v0.6.2 Bonjour, winemakers! A few fixes straight from your reports — merci for the detailed feedback. A little polish, especially for those of you crafting serious reds. Bug Fixes Aged reds now compete in the annual awards — Fixed a bug where well-aged red wines could be shut out of the red/white competition. Eligibility is now judged by a wine's release (bottling) year rather than its harvest vintage — so the reds you patiently age will finally take their place on the podium. Negotiation slider reaches the full market range — The price slider now goes all the way up to the displayed "Market Est." range. A buyer will still politely decline if you push past what they'll personally pay — but no more seeing a price you can't dial to. Barrel names now translate correctly — Fixed barrel names (e.g. French Oak) showing in Korean in other languages within the Action…
- v0.6.1 — Save Loading Fix - 23 June 2026
Grand Cru: The Wine Maker — v0.6.1 Bonjour, winemakers! A small but important fix for those of you nurturing a château across many years. Bug Fixes Long-playthrough saves now load reliably — Fixed an issue where very large save files (from long games) could fail to load, even though they had saved correctly. Your long-running estates are safe — pour a glass and carry on. Santé! 🍷
- v0.6.0 — Award Ceremony Reimagined + Custom Labels - 23 June 2026
Grand Cru: The Wine Maker — v0.6.0 Update Bonjour, winemakers! This update is about feeling the moment. Two years of patience go into a single bottle — so the milestones that matter should finally feel like they matter. GameplayThe Award Ceremony, as a Visual Novel — The annual awards are no longer a silent results screen. You receive an invitation, you choose to attend, and you live the evening: the arrival, the hush before your name, the announcement. First-person narration reacts to your result — and your very first medal, or a rare double gold, earns a full cinematic moment of its own. With new ceremony theme music and sound. Design a Label for Every Wine (3×3 Layout) — Two wines from the same appellation no longer share one forced label. The redesigned label editor gives you a 3×3 layout grid: place your brand name, wine name, emblem and text freely, in four sizes. Make every cuvée…
- v0.5.2 — Save & Marketplace Fixes - 22 June 2026
Grand Cru: The Wine Maker — v0.5.2 Update Bonjour, winemakers! A quick hotfix for two issues you reported — thank you. Bug Fixes Save Reliability — Fixed save slots failing to save (especially the 5th slot and beyond) and only some slots being overwritable. Your games now write to disk properly and reliably. Marketplace Re-negotiation — You can now re-negotiate for free with buyers you've already traded with this season, even at 0 action points. The "Approach · Free" button works as intended. Merci, and happy winemaking!
- v0.5.1 — Every Wine Now Scores Fairly - 18 June 2026
Grand Cru: The Wine Maker — v0.5.1 Update Bonjour, winemakers! A small but meaningful update today. While testing, we discovered a hidden bug that was quietly costing every wine the credit it deserved — so we corrected it. Here's what changed. Bug Fixes Every Wine Now Scores Fairly — A flaw in the soil-and-grape matching calculation was costing every wine roughly 3 critic points. That's now fixed: your wines finally receive the true score they've earned. Balance A Fairer Race — The same scoring bug locked elite rival winemakers at a perfect complexity score, which made the red-category Gold medal all but impossible to claim. A red Gold is still rare — but now it's genuinely within your reach. Rival Tuning — We slightly lowered the winemaking bonus of the very top rivals, so that a red Gold becomes a true challenge — your white whale — rather than an impossible dream. Thank you for tendi…
- v0.5.0 — Your Own Brand - 12 June 2026
Grand Cru: The Wine Maker — v0.5.0 Update Bonjour, winemakers! Welcome to v0.5.0, "Your Own Brand." This update is about one thing — giving your wines an identity. Until now, bottling a wine left you with numbers and scores. Now it's different. Pick a label frame, add an emblem, choose a font — and suddenly it's not just "Pomerol Merlot 2026." It's your Château. A personal note: after a great deal of soul-searching — it truly took time — I've left my day job, and I can finally give Grand Cru my full attention. I'm sorry for the wait. The road to 1.0 starts now, and I'm running. New Features Wine Label Brand System — When you bottle a wine, the label editor opens. Combine frames, emblems, colors, and fonts to create your own brand. 5 Label Frames — Classique, Minimal, Art Deco, Vendange, Élégance. Higher reputation unlocks new frames. 15 Emblems — Grape, leaf, château and lion, plus rose…
