Bourgueil

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Accessory grape varieties

Terroir

• The vineyard lies north of the Loire, at the north-western extremity of the Touraine wine region, a few kilometres upstream from the confluence with the Vienne.
• The geographical zone is bounded to the north by the Gâtine forest and to the south by the Loire, and rests for one third on a south-facing slope and for two thirds on terraces and ridges locally known as montilles.
• The slope is cut by the valley of the Changeon, a north–south-oriented watercourse that marks the boundary between the communes of Bourgueil and Benais.
• The soils at the foot of the slope are calcareous brown soils developed on the micaceous glauconitic chalk of the Turonian or on the yellow tuffeau chalk, while mid-slope soils are clay-siliceous soils derived from the clay-sandy formations of the Senonian.
• The geographical zone covers 8 communes in the Indre-et-Loire département and enjoys a milder and drier climate than the Touraine region as a whole, with annual rainfall approximately 75 millimetres lower.

• The origins of the Bourgueil vineyard are linked to the founding of the abbey of Bourgueil in 990, which provides the earliest written records of viticultural activity in the area.
• The Cabernet franc variety, locally called Breton, is thought to have been introduced by river trade, its establishment encouraged by the political union of Anjou and Aquitaine during the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
• Planted on terraces of ancient alluvial deposits, the vineyard long resisted phylloxera, whose spread is slower in sandy soils, and was quickly reconstituted with Cabernet franc alone.

• Rosé wines most often display aromas of small red and white fruits, fresh and fairly intense, sometimes lifted by a note of citrus or pepper.
• The red wines are elegant, with a colour ranging from deep ruby to profound garnet, and a tannic structure that is often well present but well integrated.
• Certain more opulent red wines benefit from being kept for a few years and can then reveal more complex notes of cocoa, light smokiness or spice.

• The sandy-clay or sandy-gravelly soils of the terraces and montilles encourage a fruit-driven aromatic expression with fine, supple tannins, explaining the appeal of these wines from the year of harvest.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in France

Sources

• Product specification (BO Agri, PDF) — approved 29 novembre 2023, JORF 8 décembre 2023
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — InterLoire