Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil is a

French wine French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and Ameri ...

Appellation d'origine contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical bo ...

'' (AOC) in the Loire valley on the right bank of the river

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhôn ...

. The AOC was created by a decree on July 31, 1937, covering about 800

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre i ...

s in the commune of Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil in the département of

Indre-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River. In 2019, it had a population of 610,079.Clive Coates ''An Encyclopedia of the Wines and Domaines of France'' pgs 276-283 University of California Press; First Printing edition (June 2001)

Jancis Robinson Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, ComMA, MW (born 22 April 1950) is a British wine critic, journalist and wine writer. She currently writes a weekly column for the ''Financial Times'', and writes for her website JancisRobinson.com, updated daily. She ...

: ''Oxford Companion to Wine'' Third Edition pgs 101 & 704-705, Oxford University Press 2006 Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil produces both red wine and

rosé A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the skin contact method ...

wines though rosés usually account for only about 2% of the production. The main variety of the AOC is

Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire's Chinon. In addition to being u ...

(locally called ''Breton''), which is allowed to be supplemented with up to 10%

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon ...

.Vins de Loire '
Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil AOC
"'' Official Site. Accessed: March 25th, 2013 These wines are renowned for being fruity, similar to those of the neighboring

Bourgueil AOC Bourgueil () is an ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) for wine in the Loire Valley region, and produces primarily red wine from the grape variety Cabernet Franc, located in the commune of Bourgueil and surrounding communes. Bourgueil gai ...

, and well suited for pairing with a wide variety of dishes.A. Domine (ed) ''Wine'' pgs 228-229 Ullmann Publishing 2008

History

Abbaye de Saint-Pierre de Bourgueil gardens

Located west of the city of

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...

, the area of Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil has seen

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, r ...

since at least the days of the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. Though long overshadowed by the neighboring communes of Bourgueil and

Chinon Chinon () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. The traditional province around Chinon, Touraine, became a favorite resort of French kings and their nobles beginning in the late 15th and early 16th centurie ...

across the Loire, the area earned a reputation for the quality of its red wine as early as the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. According to local legend, the Cabernet Franc grape was introduced to area in 1090 when it was planted in the nearby

Bourgueil Abbey Bourgueil Abbey (french: Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Bourgueil-en-Vallée) was a Benedictine monastery located at Bourgueil, historically in Anjou, currently in Indre-et-Loire and the diocese of Angers. The founder was Emma of Blois, daughter of Theo ...

. Like neighboring Bourgueil, the

Bretons The Bretons (; br, Bretoned or ''Vretoned,'' ) are a Celtic ethnic group native to Brittany. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Brittonic speakers who emigrated from southwestern Great Britain, particularly Cornwall and Devon, ...

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

were a significant customer for the wines of Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil and by at least the 16th century the wine from the area was being described as "Breton wine". When the ''

Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité The Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité (previously ''Institut National des Appellations d'Origine'') (INAO) is the French organization charged with regulating French agricultural products with Protected Designations of Origin (PDOs ...

'' (INAO) was delineating AOC regions in 1937, the commune of Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil was originally grouped with the communes of Bourgueil, Benais and

Restigné Restigné () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Population See also *Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department The following is a list of the 272 communes of the Indre-et-Loire department of France. The commu ...

under one Bourgueil AOC. But

Adrien Ory Adrien is a given name and surname, and the French spelling for the name Adrian. It is also the masculine form of the feminine name Adrienne. It may refer to: People Given name * Adrien Auzout (1622–1691), French astronomer * Adrien Baille ...

, mayor of Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil and one of the largest vineyard owners in the region, campaigned for a separate AOC designation for the wines from his town despite the two AOCs having essentially identical ''terroir'' and producing similar wines.Eric Pfanner '
Loire Valley Reds Come Into Their Own
'' ''The New York Times'' March 2nd, 2012 However at the time of AOC creation, the maximum allowable yields for Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil were slightly lower than for Bourgueil but subsequent revisions of AOC regulations have now made them completely the same for both AOCs.

Climates and geography

Located on the north "right bank" of the river Loire in the

Touraine wine Touraine is an '' Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) in the Loire Valley wine region in France that produce dry, white wines and red wines rich in tannins. The AOC status was awarded by a decree of December 24, 1939 (modified by the decr ...

, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil experiences some of the

maritime climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

influences from the Atlantic that the neighboring AOCs in

Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France *County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France **Duke ...

see but with some

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing so ...

elements as well.H. Johnson & J. Robinson ''The World Atlas of Wine'' pg 120 Mitchell Beazley Publishing 2005 The river Vienne reaches the Loire at

Candes-Saint-Martin Candes-Saint-Martin () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department, central France. It overlooks the confluence of the Vienne and Loire rivers from a steep hill on the left bank of the Loire, and marks the boundary between the modern department ...

across from the AOC creating a large body of water with a resulting lake effect that tempers the climate. The AOC boundaries of Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil fall within the Bourgueil AOC, northwest of the commune of

Bourgueil Bourgueil () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Population Bourgueil wine Bourgueil is an ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) for wine in the Loire Valley region, and produces primarily red wine from th ...

itself on terraces of

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel ...

deposits that border the

Maine-et-Loire Maine-et-Loire () is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indre-et ...

department and Anjou wine region. Centered on the commune of Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, the

vineyard soils The soil composition of vineyards is one of the most important viticultural considerations when planting grape vines. The soil supports the root structure of the vine and influences the drainage levels and amount of minerals and nutrients that the ...

of the AOC are not much different than the greater Bourgueil region with the exception of a slightly higher sand/limestone content (known locally as ''varennes''). About a third of the region's vineyards are planted on Turonian chalk, a type of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

Viticulture and winemaking

Like most of the Loire, the main red grape of Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil is Cabernet franc (known locally as ''Breton'') with Cabernet Sauvignon accounting for an increasing amount of plantings. Vineyards are densely planted with 5000 grapevines per hectare. Both Cabernet varieties are usually trained to the ''guyot simple'' system with one long

cane Cane or caning may refer to: *Walking stick or walking cane, a device used primarily to aid walking * Assistive cane, a walking stick used as a mobility aid for better balance *White cane, a mobility or safety device used by many people who are ...

pruned Pruning is a horticultural, arboricultural, and silvicultural practice involving the selective removal of certain parts of a plant, such as branches, buds, or roots. The practice entails the ''targeted'' removal of diseased, damaged, dead, ...

to seven or eight

buds In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be spec ...

each winter. Both grapes are late-ripening varieties that require a long

growing season A season is a division of the year marked by changes in weather, ecology, and the amount of daylight. The growing season is that portion of the year in which local conditions (i.e. rainfall, temperature, daylight) permit normal plant growth. Whi ...

ideally ending with an

Indian summer An Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Several sources describe a true Indian summer as not occurring until after the first frost, or more s ...

in order to achieve full ripeness. Cab Franc cluster

After

harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most l ...

the grapes are destemmed and crushed with a short maceration period, often with the must warmed up to aid in extraction of

color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

and phenolics before the wines are pressed and put into

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...

. The wine almost always goes through

malolactic fermentation Malolactic conversion (also known as malolactic fermentation or MLF) is a process in winemaking in which tart-tasting malic acid, naturally present in grape must, is converted to softer-tasting lactic acid. Malolactic fermentation is most often ...

. Some Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil producers with vineyards planted in lighter soils will produce an early maturing wine, with an even shorter maceration period and much less oak aging, that can be released as early as the summer after

vintage Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...

while other examples will see 15 to 18 months of aging before being bottled.T. Stevenson, ed. ''The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia (5th Edition)'' pgs 257-259 Dorling Kindersley (2011)

Production and wine industry

In 1998, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil produced 53,572 hectoliters of wine (around 595,240 cases) from 929 hectares (approximately 2295 acres) of vineyards. By 2013, that number had expanded to 1,050 hectares (2,600 acres) producing around 59,000 hl (more than 655,500 cases) of wine of which 98% was red and 2% was rosé. Many producers in Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil own vineyard land in both Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil as well as the greater Bourgueil region and will often blend to make one Bourgueil AOC bottling. Among the producers who make separate Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil and Bourgueil bottlings are Domaine Yannick Amirault which owns the ''Les Malgagnes'' vineyard that contains some of the oldest vines in Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil. Among the producers that usually just make Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil wine, Domaine Joël Taluau is often considered "the grandfather of Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil" as they were one of the first producers in the area to do estate bottling.

Wines and AOC regulation

According to

Master of Wine Master of Wine (MW) is a qualification (not an academic degree) issued by The Institute of Masters of Wine in the United Kingdom. The MW qualification is generally regarded in the wine industry as one of the highest standards of professional knowle ...

Clive Coates Clive Coates (21 October 1941 – 26 July 2022) was a British wine writer and Master of Wine, best known for his books about the wines of Burgundy.winepros.com.au. Biography Born in Wimbledon, London on 21 October 1941, Coates worked for Th ...

, the wines of Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil are noted for a distinctive raspberry

aroma An odor (American English) or odour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds that are generally found in low concentrations that humans and animals can perceive via their sens ...

that can also have elements of

pencil A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage, and keeps it from marking the user's hand. Pencils create marks by physical abrasion, leaving a tra ...

shavings. Compared to Chinon, the wines tend to be slightly more austere with more noticeable

acidity In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a ...

. While very similar, Coates notes that Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil can be a little more aromatic and lighter than neighboring Bourgueil. Wine writer

Tom Stevenson Tom Stevenson (born 1951) is a British wine writer and critic. Described by his colleagues as one of today's most prolific wine authors, Stevenson is regarded as the world's leading authority on Champagne.christies.coChristie’s Champagne Ma ...

notes that Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil wines tend to have a little more "finesse" than Bourgueil, often requiring 5 to 6 years of aging after bottling before they are drunk at their peak and are able to age much longer. Stevenson describes the rosés as medium-bodied, dry and fruity. For wines to be labelled under the Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil AOC designation, the grapes must be limited to a harvest yield no greater than 55 hl/ha (approximately 3 tons/acre). The blend must be made primarily from Cabernet Franc with Cabernet Sauvignon limited to making up no more than 10% of the blend. The finished wine must contain at least 9.5%

alcohol by volume Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol ( ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) ...

.P. Saunders ''Wine Label Language'' pg 103 Firefly Books 2004

References

{{reflist Loire AOCs Indre-et-Loire