Corrèze

France · AOC (PDO) · South-West · 23 INAO commune(s)

Styles

Natural factors

The Corrèze AOC area lies in the foothill zone of the Brive and Meyssac basins, bounded to the east by the foothills of the Massif Central and to the west by the hills of the Périgord and the causse de Martel.
To the north-east lie metamorphic terrains of schist and gneiss, disrupted by border faults running parallel to the great Argentat fault, while the Brive Basin rests on Permian red sandstones.
The Meyssac Basin, separated from the Brive Basin by the great Meyssac fault, rests on marine and lagoonal formations of the Triassic and Lias, and is bounded to the south-west by the causse de Martel, formed of Jurassic limestone deposits.
On the slopes of the northern sector, defined by the slate fault running from Donzenac to Juillac, colluvial soils formed over crystalline schists are found alongside acid brown soils over schists and quartzites.
The Corrèze vineyard generally lies between 150 and 300 metres above sea level, with viticulture disappearing beyond 320 metres on the crystalline basement north of the Meyssac, Donzenac, and Juillac faults.
The climate, temperate with an Atlantic tendency and influenced by the Aquitaine basin via the Dordogne valley, receives well-distributed rainfall averaging between 800 and 900 mm per year.

Human factors

The will of Yrieix (Aredius), from the early sixth century, mentions vineyards across 17 parishes of the Brive basin, including Allassac and Voutezac.
In the nineteenth century, the Corrèze vineyard reached its peak with 16,735 hectares in 1840, before the crises of powdery mildew, downy mildew, and then phylloxera from 1885 onwards.
The vin de paille is made from grapes dried off the vine, a tradition maintained on the hillsides in the south of the département overlooking the Dordogne.
In 1821, François Planchard de la Grèze described the making of vin de paille, with ageing on lees carried out for eighteen months to two years before bottling.
In the early 1980s, a small group of young farmers, aware that the commune of Branceilles had once been home to reputed vineyards, decided to re-establish a vineyard and became the driving force behind the revival of viticulture in the département.

Product characteristics

Corrèze AOC red wines most often display a ruby to garnet colour with violet highlights, a nose dominated by red fruits accompanied by spicy notes, and a fresh, harmoniously balanced palate.
Sometimes aged in oak, these red wines show silky tannins and complex aromas ranging from truffle notes in older vintages to more toasty and vanilla-tinged noses in younger wines.
Wines bearing the designation vin de paille display a deep old-gold to amber colour, a nose of overripe and dried or candied fruits, with a light rancio character in some examples, and a palate with a soft, lively, and long attack.
The red wines of the Coteaux de la Vézère additional geographical designation, made from cabernet franc alone, are powerful and well-balanced on the palate, with fine length and freshness, built on a foundation of spiced red and black fruits.

Terroir / wine link

The amphitheatre setting of the hills at the foot of the Limousin uplands, overlooking the Dordogne to the south, accounts for the natural ventilation and mild autumns that favour the natural drying of the fruit for vin de paille.
For the vin de paille, the geomorphology and resulting microclimate — sedimentary soils at the foot of the crystalline massif, a due-south exposure, and a softened oceanic influence — determine the conditions in which this wine is produced.

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

About this boundary · approximate area

Approximate area — the union of the 23 commune(s) of the delimited area (INAO); no parcel delimitation exists for this denomination.