Orléans (wine region)

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Orleans
Appellation type: AOP
Year of establishment: November 23, 2006
Viticulture tradition since: 6th century
Country: France
Part of the wine-growing region: Loire
Cultivation climate: predominantly maritime climate with continental influence
Precipitation (annual mean): 640 mm (mean 1961–1990)
Soil types: 1. sand and gravel soil,
2. sand and alluvial soil
Planted acreage: 80 ha (as of 2017)
Grape varieties: Pinot Meunier, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay
Basic yield: 60 hl / ha
Wine quantity: 2990 hl (as of 2017)

Orléans is a wine-growing region in France .

There is an approximately 100  ha large AOC region around the city of Orléans , in the Center Department of the Loire , just in the crease where the Loire to the west turns. The vineyards are in the Center-Val de Loire region , in the Loiret department , and are spread over the municipalities of Baule , Beaugency , Chécy , Cléry-Saint-André , Mardié , Mareau-aux-Prés , Meung-sur-Loire , Mézières- lez-Cléry , Olivet , Orléans, Saint-Ay , Saint-Hilaire-Saint-Mesmin and Saint-Jean-de-Braye .

history

There is evidence that the monks of Saint-Mesmin de Micy Abbey began growing viticulture in the 6th century. Gregory of Tours also mentions viticulture in his Historia Francorum.

The wine region, which was important in the early modern period , had more than 30,000 hectares of vineyards in the 17th century. Between Châteauneuf-sur-Loire in the east and Beaugency in the west, viticulture was practically monoculture .

Various reasons were responsible for this development: In 1577 the Parlement of Paris decreed that the residents of Paris were only allowed to buy wine that was produced at least 90 km from the capital. There was a paved road between the Orléanais and Paris, which corresponded to the routing of today's Route nationale 20 . Furthermore, the Canal de Briare was opened to goods traffic in 1642 and made transport between Paris and the Loire much easier. The greatly increased sales of wine from the region around Orléans led to a decline in quality. The wines of the Loire were also consumed in the French royal family. In 1608 the doctor Joseph Duchesne wrote in his work “Pourtraict de la santé” that King Henry IV should rather serve wines from Coucy or Ay . This recommendation ushered in a slowly onset crisis.

With the construction of the rail link to Paris in 1853, the region began to distribute its industry to other areas. When the vines were attacked by phylloxera , viticulture almost came to a standstill. Today Orléans is an industrial city and service metropolis.

In 1946 a designation of origin "Vins des Auvernats et Sauvignon de l'Orléanais et du Giennois" was established. A few years later, this bulky name was changed to "Vins de l'Orléanais" and classified as VDQS . This area later became part of the Orléans, Orláns Cléry and Coteaux du Giennois wine-growing regions .

Wines

In the choice of grape varieties , the Burgundian influence is somewhat more evident than in the other appellations in the Center. Light, fragrant red and rosé wines are mostly made from Meunier , also called Gris-Meunier here, from the gravelly sites, but hardly make it further than the capital. Pinot noir and Pinot gris are permitted as secondary varieties . The few white wines that are produced are based on Chardonnay (share of at least 60%) and Pinot gris, also called Auvernat Blanc, and are usually extremely light. Orléans Cléry , an even smaller AOC area for red wines in the southwest of the city , is based on Cabernet Franc.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Roger Dion: Histoire de la Vigne et du Vin en France . 1st edition. CNRS Editions, 2010, ISBN 978-2-271-06952-8 , pp. 253-256 .
  2. Jancis Robinson: OWL The Oxford Wine Lexicon . 3. Edition. Hallwag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-8338-0691-9 .