Côtes de Gascogne is a wine-growing district in

Gascony Gascony (; ) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part of the combined Province of Guyenne and Gascon ...

producing principally white wine. It is mainly located in the département of the

Gers Gers (; or , ) is a departments of France, department in the regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southwestern France. Gers is bordered by the departments of Hautes-Pyrénées and Pyrénées-Atlantiques to ...

in the former Midi-Pyrénées region (now part of the Occitanie region), and it belongs to the wine region South West France. The designation Côtes de Gascogne is used for a '' Vin de Pays'' ("country wine") produced in the

Armagnac Armagnac (, ) is a distinctive kind of brandy produced in the Armagnac (region), Armagnac region in Gascony, southwest France. It is distilled from wine usually made from a blend of grapes including Baco 22A, Colombard, Folle blanche and Ugni ...

area. The decree of 13 September 1968 created the difference between a ''Vin de Pays'' and simpler table wine, the so-called '' Vin de table''. The designation ''Côtes de Gascogne'' obliges the producers to respect the stricter rules and production standards, which were adopted with the decree of 25 January 1982.

Association of producers

The Association of Producers of the ''Vins de Pays Côtes de Gascogne'' was founded on 15 March 1979. It protects the interests of the members, determines the production standards and ensures respect of these rules. The association counts on this moment approximately 1,400 wine farmers. Of them, 1,300 are members of cooperative cellars, the so-called ''caves coopératives''. The most famous producers are Château de Tariquet, Domaine de Joÿ, Plaimont, Uby... There are also 150 independently working wine farmers, who produce their wines themselves.

Production

With a permitted production quantity of 830,000 hectoliters per year, the Gers is France's largest producer of white ''Vin de Pays'', with a production potential of more than 100 million bottles per year, of which 75% are for export. In the Gers, the production volumes are more or less as follows: 91% white wine, 8% red and 1% rosé wine. This is very atypical for the southwest of France, because in neighbouring departments mainly red wine is produced.

Rules for wine

There are red,

rosé A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the wine color, 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 Macerati ...

and white wine. Wines are produced only from the defined area. The types of grapes for red and rosé wine are Abouriou,

Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...

, Cabernet sauvignon,

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 (wine), Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire (wine), Loire's C ...

, Duras, Fer, Négrette, Portugias bleu, Malbec and Tannat. The types of grapes for white wine are Colombard, Petit Manseng, Gros Manseng, Len de l'El, Sauvignon blanc, Sémillon, Muscadelle and

Ugni blanc Trebbiano is an Italian wine grape, one of the most widely planted grape varieties in the world. It gives good yields, but tends to yield undistinguished wine. It can be fresh and fruity, but does not keep long. Also known as ugni blanc, it ...

Production region

The ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée''-région Côtes de Gascogne,

and

Floc de Gascogne The Floc de Gascogne is a regional apéritif from the Côtes de Gascogne and Armagnac (province), Armagnac regions of South West France (wine region), Sud-Ouest wine region of France. It is a ''vin de liqueur'' Fortified wine, fortified with Arm ...

(a local aperitif) are identical. The three Armagnac sub-regions Armagnac-Ténarèze,

Bas-Armagnac Bas-Armagnac ("Lower Armagnac"; ) is one of the three terroir, plantation areas in the Armagnac (region), Armagnac area of France where grapes for the distillation of the Armagnac (drink), Armagnac eau-de-vie can be cultivated. It extends over t ...

and Haut-Armagnac form in a way the Côtes de Gascogne. The region is mainly in the

where two thirds of the vineyards, nearly 12,000 hectares are used for the production of the Côtes de Gascogne wines. In

the cantons: Auch,

Cazaubon Cazaubon (; Gascon: ''Casaubon'') is a commune in the Gers department of southwestern France. Besides the town of Cazaubon itself, the commune includes the adjacent spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a develop ...

Condom A condom is a sheath-shaped Barrier contraception, barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a Sexually transmitted disease, sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both external condo ...

, Fleurance, Jegun, Lectoure, Montesquiou,

Montréal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Nogaro Nogaro (; Gascon: ''Nogaròu'') is a commune in the Gers department, Southwestern France. It is the site of a distillery of Armagnac brandy. Geography The commune is bordered by six other communes: Caupenne-d'Armagnac to the northwest, ...

, Riscle, Plaisance, Aignan, Valence-sur-Baïse, Vic-Fezensac. The

Appellation d'origine contrôlée In France, the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (, ; abbr. AOC ) is a label that identifies an agricultural product whose stages of production and processing are carried out in a defined geographical area – the ''terroir'' – and using ...

was in 2005 extended with the

vineyards lying in twenty-five municipalities in the Bas-Armagnac which are in the department Landes and fourteen other municipalities in the Armagnac-Ténarèze which are in

Lot-et-Garonne Lot-et-Garonne (, ) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the rivers Lot and Garonne, it had a population of 331,271 in 2019.Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

although far away behind Les Landes still has influence, further spring is rather wet and it is sunny in the rest of the year.

References

External links