South West France, or in French ''Sud-Ouest'', is a

wine region Wines are produced in significant growing regions where vineyards are planted. Wine grapes berries mostly grow between the 30th and the 50th degrees of latitude, in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, typically in regions of Mediterranea ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

covering several wine-producing areas situated respectively inland from, and south of, the wine region of

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

.Terroir-France: South West Wine Information
accessed on February 23, 2008 These areas, which have a total of 16,000

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

s (40,000

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

s) of vineyards, consist of several discontinuous wine "islands" throughout the

Aquitaine Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...

region (where Bordeaux region itself is situated), and more or less to the west of the

Midi-Pyrénées Midi-Pyrénées (; or ; ) is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Occitania. It was the largest region of Metropolitan France by area, larger than the Netherlands or Denmark. ...

region. Thus, South West France covers both the upstream areas around the rivers

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; ) is a large rural departments of France, department in south west France, with its Prefectures in France, prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and ...

and

Garonne The Garonne ( , ; Catalan language, Catalan, Basque language, Basque and , ; or ) is a river that flows in southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux � ...

(which also flow through Bordeaux where they combine to form the

Gironde estuary The Gironde estuary ( , US usually ; , ; , ) is a navigable estuary (though often referred to as a river) in southwest France and is formed from the meeting of the rivers Dordogne and Garonne just downstream of the centre of Bordeaux. Coverin ...

) and their tributaries, as well as the wine-producing areas of

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 ...

including

Béarn Béarn (; ; or ''Biarn''; or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in Southwestern France. Along with the three Northern Basque Country, ...

, and the

Northern Basque Country The French Basque Country (; ; ), or Northern Basque Country (, or , ), is a region lying on the west of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Since 1 January 2017, it constitutes the Basque Municipal Community (; ) presided o ...

. However, only areas closer to the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

than to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

are included in the region, with the city of

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

being situated roughly halfway between the South West wine region and the

Languedoc-Roussillon Languedoc-Roussillon (; ; ) is a former regions of France, administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It comprised five departments o ...

wine region on the Mediterranean. The brandy-producing region

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 ...

is situated within Gascony and the wine region of South West France, and some of its

grapes A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

are used to make

Vin de Pays ''Vin de pays'' (; 'country wine') was a French wine classification that was above the '' vin de table'' classification, but below the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) classification and below the former '' vin délimité de qualité ...

under the designation ''Vin de Pays de

Côtes de Gascogne Côtes de Gascogne is a wine-growing district in Gascony producing principally white wine. It is mainly located in the Departments of France, département of the Gers in the former Midi-Pyrénées region (now part of the Occitanie region), and i ...

'' or mixed with Armagnac to produce the mistelle

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 ...

. South West France is a rather heterogeneous region in terms of its wines and how they are marketed. It is rare to see wines being sold as ''Vins du Sud-Ouest''. Rather, the smaller areas and individual appellations market their wines under their own (smaller) umbrella, in contrast with common practice in e.g. the Bordeaux region. The areas closest to Bordeaux produce wines in a style similar to those of Bordeaux, and largely from the same grape varieties. Further south, wines are still rather similar to those of Bordeaux, but several grape varieties not used in Bordeaux are common, such as Tannat. Finally, in the areas closest to the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

, wines are made from local varieties, such as Gros Manseng and

Petit Manseng Petit Manseng (sometimes translated: Small Manseng, rarely "Little Manseng") is a white wine grape variety that is grown primarily in South West France. It produces the highest quality wine of any grape in the Manseng family. The name is deriv ...

History

The south-west region was first cultivated by the Romans and had a flourishing wine trade long before the Bordeaux area was planted. As the port city of

became established, wines from the "High Country" would descend via the

tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...

of the Dordogne and Garonne to be sent to markets along the

coast.H. Johnson & J. Robinson ''The World Atlas of Wine'' pg 112-115 Mitchell Beazley Publishing 2005 The climate of the inland region was generally warmer and more favorable than in Bordeaux, allowing the grapes to be harvested earlier and the wines to be of a stronger alcohol level. Many Bordeaux wine merchants saw the wines of the "High Country" as a threat to their economic interest and during the 13th & 14th century a set of codes, known as the '' police des vins'', were established which regulated the use of the port of Bordeaux for wine trading. The ''police des vins'' stated that no wine could be traded out of Bordeaux until the majority of Bordelais wine had already been sold. This had a devastating effect on the wine industry of the High Country with barrels of wines being stranded at Bordeaux warehouses for several weeks or months before they could be sold at much lower prices due to that year's market already being saturated with wine. In many years another

vintage In winemaking, vintage is the process of picking grapes to create wine. A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certain wines, it can denote quality, as in Port wine ...

would actually take place before the "High Country" wines were sold.H. Johnson ''Vintage: The Story of Wine'' pg 144 Simon and Schuster 1989

Appellations in South West France

South West France includes the following

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 ...

(AOC) and

Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure Vin or VIN may refer to: Abbreviations and codes Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Vos Iz Neias?'', American Jewish online news site * Coastal radio station VIN Geraldton (callsign), a station in the former Australian coastal radio service Plac ...

( VDQS) designations.

Dordogne/Bergerac, subregion

* Bergerac AOC * Côtes de Duras AOC * Côtes de Montravel AOC * Haut-Montravel AOC * Monbazillac AOC * Montravel AOC * Pécharmant AOC * Rosette AOC *

Saussignac AOC Saussignac () is a wine appellation (Appellation d'origine contrôlée, AOC) in South West France. The Saussignac AOC is used exclusively for a sweet white dessert wine, similar to Monbazillac but a little drier. The grapes used are generally S� ...

Garonne subregion

* Brulhois AOC * Buzet AOC * Cahors AOC * Côtes de Duras AOC * Côtes du Marmandais AOC * Fronton AOC * Gaillac AOC * Marcillac AOC * Coteaux du Quercy VDQS * Côtes de Millau VDQS * Saint-Sardos VDQS * Vins de Lavilledieu VDQS * Vins d'Entraygues et du Fel VDQS * Vins d'Estaing VDQS

Gascony and Pyrenean subregions

Gascony lands are close to the Adour river, Béarn and Basque lands are closer to the Pyrenees

Gascony lands

* Saint-Mont VDQS * Tursan VDQS

Gascony and Béarn lands

* Madiran AOC *

Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh AOC Madiran wine () is produced around the village of Madiran in Gascony under three '' Appellations d'Origine Contrôlées'' (AOCs): Madiran for red wines and Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh and Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh Sec for white wines. The production area ...

* Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh Sec AOC

Béarn lands

* Béarn AOC *

Jurançon AOC Jurançon () is a wine region in South West France in the foothills of the Pyrenees, around the ''commune'' of Jurançon. It produces a dry white wine and a more sought after sweet white wine. The grape varieties used are Gros Manseng, Peti ...

Basque Country land

Irouléguy AOC Irouléguy AOC wines (; , ) come from Lower Navarre in the Northern Basque Country, France and are usually considered as part of the wine region of South West France (''Sud-Ouest''). They are named after the village of Irouléguy and are the only ...

Common grape varieties

The following grape varieties are commonly found in at least one sub-region or appellation of South West France. * Abouriou * Arrouya noir * Arrufiac * Baco blanc * Bouchalès *

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 ...

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 Lebano ...

* Clairette blanche *

Colombard Colombard (also known as French Colombard in North America) is a white French wine grape variety that may be the offspring of Chenin blanc and Gouais blanc. This makes the grape the sibling of the Armagnac Meslier-Saint-François and the nearl ...

Courbu Courbu is the name of three different, but related varieties of wine grapes primarily found in South West France. All are ''Vitis vinifera'' grapes. The name Courbu, without suffix, can refer to both Petit Courbu and Courbu blanc, and not all sour ...

* Duras * Fer *

Folle blanche Folle blanche (), also known as Picpoule, Gros Plant, and Enrageat blanc, is a wine grape variety from southwest France. It was the traditional grape variety in Cognac and Armagnac production until the 20th century. Folle blanche is an offsprin ...

* Gros Manseng * Jurançon *

Len de l'El Len de l'El (various spellings have been reported:Institut Français de la Vigne et du Vin Sud-OuesLen de l'El B ou Loin de l'Oeil" (French). Accessed: 23 October 2011Oxford Companion to Wine'Gaillac entry"'' Accessed: 6 February 2011Ampélogra ...

Malbec Malbec () is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. In France, plantations of Malbec are ...

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 ...

* Muscadelle * Négrette *

* Portugias bleu * Raffiat de Moncade *

Sauvignon blanc Sauvignon blanc () is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the city of Bordeaux in France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an ind ...

Sémillon Sémillon () is a golden-skinned grape used to make dry and sweet white wines, mostly in French wine, France and Australian wine, Australia. Its thin skin and susceptibility to Botrytis cinerea, botrytis make it dominate the sweet wine region S ...

* Tannat *

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 ...

References

External links

Official website of the South West France wine organisation CIVSO
which covers the Garonne and Gascony subregions
Wine Tours In South West France
covering local grape varieties and regions such as Brulhois and Armagnac
South West France wines
Wine regions of France {{Portal bar, Wine, France