Saint-Pourçain () is an ''

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) for

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 ...

located around

Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule (, literally ''Saint-Pourçain on Sioule''; Auvergnat dialect, Auvergnat: ''Sant Porçanh de Siula'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Allier Departments of France, department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in centra ...

in the

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; or ) is a cultural region in central France. As of 2016 Auvergne is no longer an administrative division of France. It is generally regarded as conterminous with the land area of the historical Province of Auvergne, which was dis ...

region of

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 ...

. It can alternatively be considered as an upstream satellite of the Loire wine region or as a tiny wine region in its own right. White, rosé and red wines are produced on vineyards covering in 19 communes of Auvergne.

History

Saint-Pourçain was created as a VDQS in 1951.Vins de Saint-Pourçain : l’INAO donne son feu vert à l’AOC
press release from INAO on May 29, 2009 In 1982, the name of the VDQS was shortened from ''Vins de Saint-Pourçain sur Sioule'' to Saint-Pourçain.INAO: AOVDQS Saint-Pourçain
It was elevated to AOC status in 2009.Decanter: France announces new AOC
/ref>

Grape varieties

For white wines,

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...

and Sacy (under the local synonym Tressallier) are the main grape varieties, with

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 ...

as an accessory variety. For red wines,

Gamay Gamay () is a purple-colored grape variety used to make red wines, most notably grown in Beaujolais and in the Loire_Valley_(wine), Loire Valley around Tours. Its full name is Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc. It is a very old cultivar, mentioned as lon ...

and

Pinot noir Pinot noir (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...

are used. For rosé wines, only Gamay is used.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint-Pourcain AOC French wine AOCs Auvergne