Entraygues - Le Fel

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Accessory grape varieties

Terroir

• The bedrock consists mainly of schists to the west of the geographical area and granites to the east, this basement being deeply incised by the Lot and its tributaries.
• The soils derived from this bedrock are acidic, more or less deep depending on the slope, and rich in rock fragments; weathering of the granite locally produces sandy grus known as "barène".
• The vineyard parcels are planted on steep hillsides overlooking the valleys of the Lot, the Truyère, and their tributaries, often arranged in terraces known locally as "faisses".
• The climate of the geographical area is subject to a continental influence, but the orientation of the valleys gives it a relatively warm climate of Mediterranean character.
• The vineyard parcels are cultivated mainly on terraces, perched on south- and south-east-facing slopes at a mean altitude of 350 metres.
• The geographical area of the appellation extends across the territory of 8 communes, of which 6 are in the département of Aveyron and 2 in the département of Cantal.

• The expansion of the vineyard in the Lot valley is linked to religious communities, most notably the Abbaye de Conques, founded in 732, and the canons remained the holders of the finest portions of this vineyard until the Revolution.
• In the twelfth century, river traffic on the Lot made the wine of the valley of Olt known as far as Gascony and Aquitaine, and the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry Plantagenet in 1152 promoted its trade with the English.
• The reconstitution of the vineyard after the phylloxera crisis, whose first symptoms appeared in 1884, was driven from 1890 onwards by Abbé Belloc, who sought out resistant rootstocks and introduced Cabernet Sauvignon.
• The grape varieties cultivated before the Revolution were "saumencès noir" (Fer), Mouyssaguès, "négret" (Négret de Bahnars), and Chenin, while an 1807 inventory mentions the variety Saint-Côme.

• The red wines display a deep violet-red colour with notes of black fruits such as blackcurrant and a tannic structure that allows for ageing of several years.
• The white wines are pale yellow in colour with green highlights, show fine floral notes that can evolve towards honey, a supple attack, and a fairly long finish.
• The rosé wines display a fairly deep pink colour with fruity aromas of red fruits and a pleasant freshness.

• The valleys are well sheltered from harsh winter cold and favour spring warming; the vine is cultivated there mainly on terraced parcels in order to benefit from optimal sunshine exposure that promotes grape ripeness in early autumn.
• The mild, very sunny autumns allow the various grape varieties to reach full ripeness, including the latest-ripening ones such as Fer and Cabernet Sauvignon.

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 3 novembre 2011, JORF 5 novembre 2011
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — IVSO — Interprofession des Vins du Sud-Ouest