wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...
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 ...
Ardèche
Ardèche (; , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche (river), Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.department, and in 5 communes of the department of the
Gard
Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;Gorges of the Ardèche and is shares the same latitudes as the Coteaux de Tricastin AOC on the left bank of the
Rhône
The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...
. The wine became a VDQS in 1962 and was awarded the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée in 1999.
Wines
Red wines account for 80% of the production and are made from Grenache noir minimum 30%, and
Syrah
Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse ...
, minimum 40% with carignan at less than 10% (until the harvest of 2017), and Cinsault at less than 10% (from the harvest of 2018) as secondary varieties.
Rosé wines account for 15% of the production and are made from Grenache noir, Syrah and Cinsault at .
White wines comprise 5% of the production and are made from Clairette blanche, Grenache blanc, Marsanne.
Economy
Wines have been produced in the region for over 2,000 years. In the region extending from the Rhône valley to the Cévennes and the Ardèche mountains - both foothills of the Massif Central - vines were cultivated by the Helvians, an ancient Gallic tribe. Pliny the Elder reported about a vine in Helvie “that flowers in a day, which protects it from accidents”; the region would wait however, until the Middle Ages before the production was well established and the wine became well known. With the planting of the traditional Rhône valley varieties of Grenache noir, Syrah, Grenache blanc and Marsanne in the early second half of the 20th century, cooperative wineries were formed to increase production to a commercial scale. The Côtes du Vivarais wines are produced on a total of 554 hectares by 149 concerns which include 138 growers, 22 small private wineries, and the 11 cooperative wineries which cater for about 90% of the production.
The vineyards are at an altitude of 250 metres on either side of the
gorge
A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...
Gras
Gras may refer to:
People
* Basile Gras (1836–1901), French firearm designer
* Enrico Gras (1919–1981), Italian filmmaker
* Felix Gras (1844–1901), Provençal poet and novelist
* Laurent Gras (disambiguation)
* N. S. B. Gras (1884–1956), ...
Orgnac-l'Aven
Orgnac-l'Aven (; ) is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France.
The Aven d'Orgnac cave is located near the village.
Population
See also
* Côtes du Vivarais AOC
*Communes of the Ardèche department
The following is a l ...
French wine
French wine is produced throughout all of 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. French wine traces its history to th ...