The geographical zone extends across the eastern slopes of the Monts de la Madeleine, which reach a peak elevation of 1,164 metres, some 10 kilometres from the town of Roanne.
The escarpment separating the Monts de la Madeleine from the Loire basin corresponds to a fault formed during the Tertiary era at the time of the Alpine uplift, and the vineyards are situated between 350 and 550 metres above sea level.
The weathering of basement rocks — granites and metamorphic rocks such as schists and gneiss of the Primary era — produces siliceous, acidic arènes (sandy decomposed rock) on which sandy, light-textured soils develop.
The climate is oceanic with marked continental nuances, characterised by fairly cold winters averaging 73 frost days per year and moderate rainfall with a slight summer maximum.
The Monts de la Madeleine form an effective barrier to the west against moist Atlantic weather systems and generate a foehn effect, and a pocket of dryness extends along the foot of the relief.
The vineyard, overlooking the Roanne plain, is sheltered from late spring frosts and morning mists disperse quickly there, across an area covering 14 communes in the north-west of the Loire department stretching over 35 kilometres.
Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.
About this boundary
On the map, at overview zooms, this appellation is drawn as a silhouette of its vineyard generalised at 250 m from the INAO parcel delimitation; the parcels themselves appear as you zoom in.
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