Côtes de Duras
Encyclopedia
Côtes de Duras is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée
(AOC) for red and white wines in South West France
. Côtes de Duras is located in the department of Lot-et-Garonne
, and is located immediately adjacent to the Bordeaux wine
region, which is restricted to the Gironde
department, as an extension of Bordeaux immediately to the east of the departmental border.
have been famous since the time of the French monarch, Francis I
. After the Edict of Nantes had been revoked and local French Protestants had moved to the Low Countries
, wine exports to ports around the North Sea
suddenly expanded.
Later this area became part of the Haut Pays Bordelais or upper Bordeaux wine country, and its exports were handled by merchants based in the Chartrons district of the city of Bordeaux
, just like the wines produced closer to the city of Bordeaux itself. This was a golden age, which ended when use of the Bordeaux appellation was restricted to wines from the Gironde department in the 1930s.
This appellation was granted on the 16th February, 1937.
departments.
Wine from this appellation grows on tertiary fluvio-lacustrine sediments that occur in three different forms:
This terroir
lies on the right bank of the Dropt
and is divided into two by the Dourdèze valley. This wine-growing area is spread across 15 communes: Auriac-sur-Dropt
, Baleyssagues
, Duras
, Esclottes
, Loubes-Bernac
, Moustier
, Pardaillan
, Saint-Astier
, Sainte-Colombe-de-Duras
, Saint-Jean-de-Duras
, Saint-Sernin
, La Sauvetat-du-Dropt
, Savignac-de-Duras
, Soumensac
and Villeneuve-de-Duras
.
(Institut National des Appellations d'Origine), 121,948 hectolitres were produced from 2,038 hectares, and production was spread across 86 private cellars and 3 cooperative cellars and wine-merchants.
Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée
Appellation d’origine contrôlée , which translates as "controlled designation of origin", is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, all under the auspices of the government bureau Institut National...
(AOC) for red and white wines in South West France
South West France (wine region)
South West France or in French Sud-Ouest, is a wine region in France covering several wine-producing areas situated respectively inland from, and south of, the wine region of Bordeaux...
. Côtes de Duras is located in the department of Lot-et-Garonne
Lot-et-Garonne
Lot-et-Garonne is a department in the southwest of France named after the Lot and Garonne rivers.-History:Lot-et-Garonne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
, and is located immediately adjacent to the Bordeaux wine
Bordeaux wine
A Bordeaux wine is any wine produced in the Bordeaux region of France. Average vintages produce over 700 million bottles of Bordeaux wine, ranging from large quantities of everyday table wine, to some of the most expensive and prestigious wines in the world...
region, which is restricted to the Gironde
Gironde
For the Revolutionary party, see Girondists.Gironde is a common name for the Gironde estuary, where the mouths of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers merge, and for a department in the Aquitaine region situated in southwest France.-History:...
department, as an extension of Bordeaux immediately to the east of the departmental border.
History
Wine from the area around DurasDuras, Lot-et-Garonne
Duras is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France.The town is traversed by the Dropt river.-Notable people:*David Hume of Godscroft , Scottish historian and philosopher, was the pastor in Duras 1604-1614....
have been famous since the time of the French monarch, Francis I
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
. After the Edict of Nantes had been revoked and local French Protestants had moved to the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
, wine exports to ports around the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
suddenly expanded.
Later this area became part of the Haut Pays Bordelais or upper Bordeaux wine country, and its exports were handled by merchants based in the Chartrons district of the city of Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, just like the wines produced closer to the city of Bordeaux itself. This was a golden age, which ended when use of the Bordeaux appellation was restricted to wines from the Gironde department in the 1930s.
This appellation was granted on the 16th February, 1937.
Climate and geography
The Côtes de Duras oceanic climate is identical to that of the Bordeaux region, except that it experiences slightly more extreme temperatures because of its distance from the ocean. This wine-growing area is situated in the north-west of Lot-et-Garonne where it borders the Gironde and DordogneDordogne
Dordogne is a départment in south-west France. The départment is located in the region of Aquitaine, between the Loire valley and the High Pyrénées named after the great river Dordogne that runs through it...
departments.
Wine from this appellation grows on tertiary fluvio-lacustrine sediments that occur in three different forms:
- Calcaire de Castillon (Castillon calcereous), which is white, chalky and contains cracks of varying depths.
- Molasses de l'Agenais (Agenais Molasses), which is layers of clay or clay-sand mix alternating with beds of gravel.
- Calcaire blanc de l'Agenais (Agenais white calcereous).
Wine-growing area
Terroir
Terroir comes from the word terre "land". It was originally a French term in wine, coffee and tea used to denote the special characteristics that the geography, geology and climate of a certain place bestowed upon particular varieties...
lies on the right bank of the Dropt
Dropt
The Dropt is a river in Aquitaine, France. It is a right tributary to the Garonne.- Geography :The source of the Dropt is located near Capdrot in the Dordogne. The drainage basin covers the area between the valleys of the Lot River and the Dordogne River....
and is divided into two by the Dourdèze valley. This wine-growing area is spread across 15 communes: Auriac-sur-Dropt
Auriac-sur-Dropt
Auriac-sur-Dropt is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France.-See also:*Communes of the Lot-et-Garonne department...
, Baleyssagues
Baleyssagues
Baleyssagues is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France....
, Duras
Duras, Lot-et-Garonne
Duras is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France.The town is traversed by the Dropt river.-Notable people:*David Hume of Godscroft , Scottish historian and philosopher, was the pastor in Duras 1604-1614....
, Esclottes
Esclottes
Esclottes is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France....
, Loubes-Bernac
Loubès-Bernac
Loubès-Bernac is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France.-See also:*Communes of the Lot-et-Garonne department...
, Moustier
Moustier, Lot-et-Garonne
Moustier is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France.-See also:*Communes of the Lot-et-Garonne department...
, Pardaillan
Pardaillan
Pardaillan, the name of an old French family of Armagnac, of which several members distinguished themselves in the service of the kings of France in the 16th and 17th centuries. Antoine Arnaud de Pardaillan, maréchal de camp, served Henry IV in Franche-Comté, Picardy and Savoy, and was created...
, Saint-Astier
Saint-Astier, Lot-et-Garonne
Saint-Astier is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France.-References:*...
, Sainte-Colombe-de-Duras
Sainte-Colombe-de-Duras
Sainte-Colombe-de-Duras is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France.-References:*...
, Saint-Jean-de-Duras
Saint-Jean-de-Duras
Saint-Jean-de-Duras is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France.-References:*...
, Saint-Sernin
Saint-Sernin, Lot-et-Garonne
Saint-Sernin is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France.-References:*...
, La Sauvetat-du-Dropt
La Sauvetat-du-Dropt
La Sauvetat-du-Dropt is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France.-See also:*Communes of the Lot-et-Garonne department...
, Savignac-de-Duras
Savignac-de-Duras
Savignac-de-Duras is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France.-See also:*Communes of the Lot-et-Garonne department...
, Soumensac
Soumensac
Soumensac is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France....
and Villeneuve-de-Duras
Villeneuve-de-Duras
Villeneuve-de-Duras is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France.-See also:*Communes of the Lot-et-Garonne department...
.
Organizational structures
According to 2005 data provided by the INAOInstitut National des Appellations d'Origine
The Institut National des Appellations d'Origine is the French organization charged with regulating French agricultural products with Protected Designations of Origin . Controlled by the French government, it forms part of the Ministry of Agriculture...
(Institut National des Appellations d'Origine), 121,948 hectolitres were produced from 2,038 hectares, and production was spread across 86 private cellars and 3 cooperative cellars and wine-merchants.
Grape varieties and wines
- White wines: SauvignonSauvignon blancSauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French word sauvage and blanc due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France., a possible descendant of savagnin...
, SémillonSémillonSémillon is a golden-skinned grape used to make dry and sweet white wines, most notably in France and Australia.-History:The origin of the Sémillon grape is hard to determine. It is known that it first arrived in Australia in the early 19th century and by the 1820s the grape covered over 90 percent...
, MuscadelleMuscadelleMuscadelle is a white wine grape variety. It has a simple aroma of grape juice and raisins like grapes of the Muscat family of grapes, but it is unrelated....
, MauzacMauzac (grape)Mauzac or Mauzac Blanc a white variety of grape used for wine, of the species Vitis vinifera. It is mainly grown in the Gaillac and Limoux regions in the southwest of France. Total French plantations of Mauzac stood at in the year 2000....
, Rouchelein or Chenin and OndencOndencOndenc is a white French wine grape found predominantly in the Gaillac region of southwest France. In the 19th century, it was a popular planting in Bordeaux but fell out of favor following the phylloxera epidemic due to poor yields and sensitive to grape disease, though is still one of the seven...
. Ugni Blanc is a supplementary grape variety that may not exceed 25% of the total used. - Red wines: Cabernet SauvignonCabernet SauvignonCabernet 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 Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...
, Cabernet FrancCabernet FrancCabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone - as in the Loire's Chinon...
, MerlotMerlotMerlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...
and CôtCOT-Beds:* A camp bed, a simple, temporary and portable bed* A baby's infant bed* See cot side for beds with raised sides-Transportation:* Car of Tomorrow, a new car design by NASCAR* Cottingley railway station, National Rail station code COT...
.
- Dry white wines: restricted to a yieldYield (wine)In viticulture, the yield is a measure of the amount of grapes or wine that is produced per unit surface of vineyard, and is therefore a type of crop yield...
of 60 hectolitres/hectare, these wines are characterized by their Sauvignon-like nose and vigorous flavours. They are produced at low temperatures and sometimes undergo pre-fermentation maceration or are matured on the lees. - Medium-sweet white wines: restricted to 50 hectolitres/hectare, these wines have an aroma of candied fruit. Some batches are made into dessert wines using the sweetest grapes from the crop that have been harvested at regular intervals.
- Rosé wines: restricted to 55 hectolitres/hectare, these wines are fresh and fruity. They are made from juice that has been bled from red wine vats.
- Red wines: restricted to 55 hectolitres/hectare, they are usually supple and fruity, but some batches, in particular those that have been aged in oak casks, can be more robust. They are produced by a long maceration process.