Southwest France

Question 1

Pyrénées-Atlantiques département

3 AOPs

Answer 1

• Jurançon AOP
• Irouléguy AOP
• Béarn AOP

Question 3

Marcillac AOP

Min % Fer

Answer 3

Marcillac

• E: min 90% Fer + Prunelard, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot
• Ass: min 80% Fer
• RED and ROSÉ only

Question 4

Bergerac

River

Answer 4

Dordogne River

• Cuts through the center of the region

Question 5

Côtes de Bergerac AOP

Answer 5

• in the absence of actual hills, requires higher min. alcohol
  
  • 11.5% for both red and white
    
    • vs Bergerac 11% red, 10.5% white
• White wines have 4-54 g/l rs
  
  • vs Bergerac max 3 g/l rs
• Rosé is not authorized

Question 6

Bergerac

AOP with the longest-lived reds

Answer 6

Pécharmant AOP

• Red blends of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cot
• 3 grapes must be present, no grape may exceed 65%

Question 7

Bergerac

5 AOPs for sweet wine

Answer 7

• * Monbazillac AOP
  
  • Botrytised, Bordeaux varietals
  • Muscadelle excels in sandy soils
• Saussignac AOP
• Rosette AOP
• Haut-Montravel AOP
• Côtes de Montravel AOP

Question 8

Montravel AOP

Answer 8

may be red or white and must be dry

• unlike Côtes de Montravel and Haut-Montravel

Question 9

Cahors AOP

Answer 9

Cahors AOP

• min. 70% Malbec, with Tannat and Merlot
• robust, sometimes-rustic, red wines;
• on the Lot River

Question 10

Madiran AOP

Answer 10

Madiran AOP

• Tannat plus Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and local Fer
• Tannic, concentrated reds
• Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh AOP: semi-sweet and sweet white wines, Petit Manseng, Petit Courbu, Arrufiac (dry Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh labeled sec)

Question 11

Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh AOP

Answer 11

• Semi-Sweet and Sweet White wines
• Petit Manseng, Petit Courbu, and Arrufiac
• vs Madiran: dry Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh is labeled sec

Question 12

Jurançon AOP

Answer 12

White wines; Gros and Petit Manseng

• Petit Manseng - better suited to sweet passerillage (passito/post-harvest drying) wines
• Gros Manseng - tangy dry whites of Jurançon Sec AOP
• Petit Courbu, Camaralet and Lauzet are secondary grapes for both styles

Question 13

Who is Patrick Ducournau?

Answer 13

• Madiran winemaker
• Developed the technique of micro-oxygenation in the early 1990s to soften the blow of tannins in Tannat

Question 14

Gaillac AOP

Answer 14

Gaillac AOP

• red, white or rosé
  
  • red: Duras, Fer, Syrah, Gamay; some Bordeaux red varietals now allowed
  • white: Mauzac, Muscadelle, Len de l’El
• vineyards established by the Romans of ancient Gaul in the 1st century CE, are among France’s oldest

Question 15

Len de l’El is a grape used in the white blends of what AOP?

Answer 15

Gaillac AOP

Question 16

What does Len de l’EL mean?

Answer 16

“far from sight” in the old d’Oc tongue

• conveys the clusters’ long stalks and the distance to the “eye,” or bud, from which they sprouted
• fleshy, soft character that complements the tarter acidity of Mauzac
• used in whited blends of Gaillac AOP

Question 17

Gaillac Premières Côtes AOP

Style

Answer 17

Dry whites

• 11 delimited communes

Question 18

Gaillac Mousseux

Answer 18

• Traditional method
• Méthode Gaillaçoise: variant of méthode ancestrale

Question 19

méthode Gaillaçoise

Answer 19

méthode ancestrale sparkling wine from Gaillac

Question 20

Buzet AOP and Côtes de Duras AOP

Answer 20

Bordeaux style blends in all three colors

Question 21

Dordogne AOPs

Answer 21

• Bergerac
• Rosette
• Pécharmant
• Monbazillac
• Saussignac
• Montravel
• Côtes de Duras

Question 22

Monbazillac Blanc

• Grapes
• Must weight
• RS
• SGN

Answer 22

• min 80% comb. MUSCADELLE, SB, SG, Sémillon
• Blanc
  
  • Must 221 g/l
  • RS 45 g/l
• SGN
  
  • Must 225/ g/l
  • RS 85 g/l

Question 23

Fronton AOP (formerly Côtes de Frontonnais)

Reds and rosés

Main grape

Answer 23

min 50% Negrette