Ch 7 The Upper Loire

• Saint-Pourçain: Allier; rivers: L'Allier (La Sioule (La Bouble))
• Côtes d'Auvergne: Puy de Dôme; river: L'Allier
• Côte Roannaise: Loire; river: La Loire
• Côtes du Forez: Loire; river; La Loire

True: it is atop the Massif Central, near the source of the Loire river: 3 springs at the base of the Mont Gerbier de Jonc volcanic mountain between Lyon and Montpellier, 33 miles west of Valence.

• 450 extinct volcanoes covering 1/6 of France (93,240 sq km/36,000 sq miles). Molten magma solidified underground into granite that was pushed to the surface by the same forces that lifted the Alps in the tertiary period (66-2.6 mya)
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Auverne was a pre-2016 region comprising the Allier, Puy-de-Dome, Cantal and Haute-Loire departments (the last 2 of which do not contain Loire Valley appellations). Vineyards flank both the Loire and its tributary the Allier rivers.

A Gallic tribe defeated Caesar in the 52 BC battle of Gergovia, delaying Roman entry into northern France

Sacy and Gamay

Limagne

A graben with erosion formed over alluvial terraces from river sediment

• Sioule
• Allier
• Bouble
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• NE: sand-gravel terraces
• Center: chalky-clay
• W, S: granite and gneiss

• White: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Sacy (aka Tressallier)
• Red: Gamay, Pinot Noir

Portianus, a monk who defended the Auvergne people against Clovis' son, Thierry, in the 5th century

The Benedictine monks although the first vineyards were planted by Gallo-Romans

• AOC: 2009
• Départements: Allier
• Location: 19 villages, left bank of the Allier river
• Size: total: 2,800 ha/6,919 acres, vineyards: 590 ha/1,457 acres
• Yield: 55 hl/ha, 3.9 tons/acre
• Blend: white: 50-80% Chardonnay, 20-40% Sacy, max 10% Sauvignon Blanc; rosé: 100% Gamay; red: 40-75 Gamay, 25-60% Pinot Noir
• RS: red: max 2 g/L, white/rosé: max 4 g/L
• Wines: 56% red: cherry in color with hints of violet, black fruit and spice, can be aged a few years; 28% white: finesse and tropical fruit, full-bodied if barrel-fermented; 16% rosé: salmon-hued with fruit
• Release: Dec 15
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True: it produced red and rosé wines from Gamay

The village of Roanne, a port on the Loire river

• Côte Roannaise
• Côtes du Forez
• Parts of the northern Rhône: Condrieu and Saint Joseph

• AOC: 1994
• Départements: Loire
• Location: 14 villages, left bank of the Loire river
• Size: total: 1,400 ha/3,459 acres, vineyards: 215 ha/531 acres; shrunk since created due to urbanization
• Yield: 55 hl/ha, 3.9 tons/acre
• Blend: red/rosé: 100% Gamay
• RS: red: max 2 g/L, rosé: max 3 g/L
• Wines: 85% red: fruity if semi-/carbonic maceration or complex with good tannin if aged min 1 year; 15% rosé: primarily saignée, salmon color with peach and exotic fruit
• Release: Dec 15
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They shifted their focus to producing spirits and sold their vineyards to nobility

Construction of canals during the 17th and 18th centuries

• Counts of Forez: Côte Roannaise and the plains on the left bank of the Loire
• Dukes of Burgundy and Beaujolais nobility (enemies of the Counts of Forez): right bank of the Loire

The grafting solution had been found by the time the pest crossed the Loire from the east in 1887

Gamay Picard was replaced by Gamay Beaujolais due to its longevity and resistance to disease.

• Gamay Beaujolais: most common
• Gamay Saint-Romain: a favorite with small grapes and airy clusters; traditionally grew on small trees; named after Saint-Romain-la-Motte, a town northwest of Roanne

• early 1900s: syndicate to strengthen industry; by the 1980s techniques and equipment improved dramatically
• 2012: Association Vignobles Forez Roannais was formed with winemakers in Forez to market both AOCs and the Urfé IGP

• Planted on southeast-facing slopes at significant elevation (350-550 m) in iron-rich soils of granite, schist, and gneiss.
• The Monts de la Madelaine protect the vineyards from humid Atlantic winds
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Continental: winters cold, summers hot and dry

False: Hail during thunderstorms poses a more common risk; frost is not usually a problem as cold air settles in the valleys rather than on the slopes (though there was a terrible frost in 2017)

True: although 60% of the harvest is done manually due to the terrain.

False: but nearly half

• AOC: 2000
• Départements: Loire
• Location: 17 villages, left bank of the Loire river
• Size: total: 2,000 ha/4,942 acres, vineyards: 100 ha/247 acres
• Yield: 55 hl/ha, 3.9 tons/acre
• Blend: red/rosé: 100% Gamay (Beaujolais and Saint-Romain clones)
• RS: red: max 2 g/L, rosé: max 3 g/L
• Wines: 80% red: ruby, cherries, raspberries, minerality, pepper, silky tannins; 20% rosé: light pink with aromas of red fruit and violet
• Release: Dec 15
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Vineyards expanded to meet demand from coal miners in Saint-Etienne. Although grown as early as the 1st century, grapes were cultivated mainly for personal consumption before then.

Thermal springs in Saint-Galmier, a spa town close to the Forez vineyards

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A shift from all-around farmers to a core group of professional winemakers; they formed the Association Vignobles Forez Roannais with Côte Roannaise producers in 2012

• Planted on south/southeast-facing volcanic slopes at elevations from 400-600 m.
• Vineyards run parallel to the Loire and are protected to the west by the Monts du Forez

• Basalt outcrops: wines are darker with more minerality, spice, tannins and can age longer
• Eroded granite mixed with schist, gneiss, or sand
• Note: both soil types are rich in manganese, have good drainage, and warm up quickly in the spring

False: some do but most vinify with a traditional yeast-driven alcoholic fermentation

• Fourme d'Ambert: village of Ambert in the eastern part of the regional natural park
• Fourme de Montbrison: village of Montbrison

• AOC: 2011
• Départements: Loire
• Location: 53 villages, both banks of the Allier river
• Size: total: 3,465 ha/8,562 acres, vineyards: 271 ha/670 acres
• Yield: 55 hl/ha, 3.9 tons/acre; geographic designations: max 52 hl/ha, 3.7 tons/acre
• Blend: white: 100% Chardonnay, red/rosé: min 50% Gamay, Pinot Noir optional
• RS: max 3 g/L
• Wines: 60% red: geographical designations macerated up to 3 weeks, fruity evolving to cherry jam and spice with age, fresher versions macerated 1 week; 25% rosé: saignée or direct press, fruit-driven; 15% white: pale yellow, medium-bodied, exotic fruit, pears, citrus
• Release: Dec 15
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A recently developed clone with large clusters that ripen slightly later than Gamay Beaujolais

After the Roman conquest of Gaul; wines were being written about by the 5th century

True: Puy-de-Dôme in the Auvergne was France's third-highest producing wine département during the 19th century

• Clustered around Clermont-Ferrand at the edge of the Limagne Basin, scattered amongst hills (350-550 m)
• To the West: volcanic Chaîne des Puys
• To the East: Livradois-Forez natural park
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• Diverse, including claly, chalky marls, basalts, granites, gneiss, and volcanic colluvium.
• Clay: structured wines
• Granite and Basalt: fruity wines
• Chalky marls: preferred for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay

Continental. Hot summers with cool nights, nearby mountains keep the vineyards dry

• Saint Vincent: patron saint of winemakers
• Saint Verny: celebrated in the Côtes de Auvergne as he was the son of a winemaker and martyred in the 13th century

True: initially, as it did in Roanne and Forez, but by 1890 phylloxera hit these vineyards too

Replanted with hybrids; however the poor quality of the wines led to decreasing production; quality returned in 1932 when Gamay, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay were declared as the only authorized varieties

roughly one third

• Madargue: red wines only, smallest production, 35 ha around Riom, northern-most, white marl rich in silica-not volcanic
• Châteaugay: red wines only, largest production, 35 ha around Châteaugay, Cébazat, and Ménétrol, basalt covered by marls, limestone, and peperite (lava gravels which give wine a smoky note)
• Chanturgue: red wines only, 75 ha within Clermont-Ferrand and Cébazat, steep slopes of chalky-clay atop basalt
• Corent: rosé wines only, 20 of 200 ha planted, close to the Allier river, surrounds Puy de Corent (extinct volcano), around Corent, Les Martres-de-Veyre, La Sauvetat, and Veyre-Monton, marly limestone and weathered basalt
• Boudes: red wines only, 30 of 180 ha planted, surrounds Boudes, Chalus, and Saint-Herent, steep (so hand harvested), south-facing slopes of red clay along Couzilloux river (Allier tributary)

Derived from the celtic cantalo clarus, meaning bright and visible

False: Corent only makes rosé wine