Gigondas (wine region)
The Gigondas wine-growing region is an appellation named after the place of the same name in the southern wine region of Côtes du Rhône in France . Since January 6, 1971, the municipality has the status of an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC for short). Mainly red wine and small quantities of rosé wine are produced. The growing area of Gigondas AOC is limited to the municipality of Gigondas in the Vaucluse department at the foot of the Dentelles de Montmirail rock area and extends over around 1,300 hectares.
Soil and climate
The cultivation area spreads on gravel terraces, which are interspersed with reddish clay minerals . The climate is Mediterranean. This distinguishes the wine region from its northern neighbors, which are exposed to a more continental climate. The defining geographical feature in the region are the Dentelles de Montmirail, a small mountain range that divides the municipality into two different zones: south of the ridge it is often hot, in the north it is temperate. But the different altitudes (the wine-growing area begins at around 100 meters and reaches a height of up to 600 meters on the slopes) also influences the ripening process of the grapes.
Vinification
98% of the products are red wines ( Gigondas rouge ), the rest are the few rosé wines ( Gigondas rosé ). White wines are no longer produced in Gigondas today . The appellation is limited to the municipality of Gigondas.
Grape varieties
The Gigondas is not a single varietal wine, but a blend (an assemblage ) of different red grape varieties , with the Grenache grape clearly dominating. After the Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité (INAO) are for the Gigondas rouge maximum of 80% Grenache , at least 15% Syrah and / or Mourvèdre and at most 10% of the other cultivars in the Cotes du Rhone grape varieties (although no Carignan ) authorized. In addition to the first three varieties mentioned, many Gigondas wines also contain a small amount of Cinsault grapes.
quality control
The yield is limited to a depth of 35 hectoliters per hectare . The minimum alcohol content is mandatory and must be at least 12.5 percent by volume. However, it is typically higher, in a good year it is around 14%.
maturation
A good vintage Gigondas rouge can mature in the cellar for ten or more years and usually benefits from it. Since the wine is mainly made from Grenache grapes, modest vintages are not particularly suitable for long bottle aging and should therefore be tasted young.
Production quantity
In 1924 4,784 hectoliters were produced, in 1967 25,887 hectoliters and today it is around 40,000 hectoliters, which equates to around five million bottles.
character
The Gigondas rouge is more impressive because of its weight than its elegance. The wine is very similar to a red Châteauneuf-du-Pape . Restaurateurs recommend the wine especially with game .
history
Around the year 1120 the bishop of Vaison Rostang III donated. the parish of Gigondas, which was subordinate to him, a fiefdom to cover the expenses incurred , which also included a vineyard on the Ouvèze . He did this with the following Latin words (it is the oldest act that occupies a vineyard in Gigondas):
"Petro vero Alberto Gigundatis pro vinea quoe sita est juxta viam publicam est inter (... otam) episcopalem et fluvium Ovicœ solidis ordo dedit."
The next evidence comes from the year 1341, when the princes of Orange ruled over the neighboring areas. A representative of this noble family, Raymond V des Baux , promised the residents of Gigondas certain freedoms in exchange for a seven-year right to use the vineyard. A document from 1376 bears witness to the wine-growing on a property named Les Bosquets and another transcript from the year 1380 states that the vineyard area of the chapel Notre-Dame-des-Pallières Gigondas to the banks of the Ouvèze extended .
In the 19th century, the population turned more and more from viticulture to concentrate on growing olives and mulberries for silkworm breeding . It was not until 1861 that the Raspail family and especially their representative Eugène Raspail revived viticulture after his political career. Three years later, his products were shipped via the port of Roquemaure on the Rhone to Valence and Lyon and via other waterways to Saint-Étienne and Paris . The phylloxera invasion around ten years later only temporarily halted the boom in wine production in Gigondas.
After the great frost in the winter of 1956 destroyed the olive groves at the foot of the Dentelles de Montmirail, the farmers Jean-Louis Alexandre, René Astran, Albin Gaudin, René Goubert, Jules Marcel, Fernand Pézenas and Jean Souchières decided to found a wine cooperative they called the Cave des vignerons de Gigondas . The wines were first marketed under the designation of origin Côtes du Rhône Villages , but this did not satisfy the ambitions of the winemakers . On January 6, 1971, the producers from Gigondas received the right to a local designation of origin from the INAO, as the first area in the Côtes du Rhône . Since then, the wines that are produced in the municipality can be sold under the name Gigondas AOC .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Andrée Girard: Vins de France , p. 443. Éducagri éditions, Dijon, 1999.
- ↑ a b c d Niels Lillelund: Rhône-Vinene , p. 151ff. JP / Politikens Forlagshus A / S, Copenhagen, 2004.
- ↑ a b c d e Robert Bailly: Histoire du vin en Vaucluse. Domaines viticoles historiques , pp. 70f, 114. Imprimerie F. Orta, Avignon, 1972.
- ^ Barthélemy: Inventaire chronologique et analytique des chartes de la Maison des Baux . Marseille, 1882.
