Chénas (wine region)
The French wine-growing region Chénas is one of the ten cru des Beaujolais . The area received on September 11, 1936 the status of an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC for short). The 285 hectares of vineyards are in the communal areas of Chénas in the Rhône department and Chapelle-de-Guinchay in the Saône-et-Loire department . The smallest of all Beaujolais cru zones is located at an altitude of 260 to 290 meters above sea level, 20 kilometers southwest of the city of Mâcon . Parts of the vineyards in the municipality of Chénas are in the Moulin à Vent appellation .
This is where red wines are made from the Gamay grape variety , which are as profound and long-lasting as a Morgon or Moulin à Vent . The wines are made with the traditional carbon dioxide maceration. This method of winemaking is slow and unsuitable for making Beaujolais Nouveau , but it does make significantly better wines .
After a long period of proper storage (sometimes up to ten years), a good Chénas can be on a par with a better Burgundy made from the Pinot Noir grape variety. Around 45 percent of the entire harvest is expanded and marketed by the local cooperative .
The other Beaujolais cru wines are Brouilly , Chiroubles , Côte de Brouilly , Fleurie , Juliénas , Moulin à Vent , Morgon , Régnié and Saint-Amour .
literature
- Jancis Robinson : The Oxford Wine Lexicon . 3. Edition. Gräfe and Unzer Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-8338-0691-9 .
- Pierre Galet : Cépages et Vignobles de France . 1st edition. Lavoisier Publishing House, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-7430-0585-8 .
- Benoît France (ed.): Grand Atlas des Vignobles de France . 1st edition. Solar publishing house, Paris 2002, ISBN 2-263-03242-8 .