Grand Roussillon

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Accessory grape varieties

Terroir

• The geographical zone forms an amphitheatre open toward the Mediterranean, bordered to the west by the Canigou massif, whose peak reaches 2,780 metres in altitude.
• The relief is completed to the south by the Albères massif, which culminates at the Roc de France at 1,450 metres, and to the north by the Corbières massif with Mont Tauch at 878 metres.
• The geographical zone is crossed from west to east by three short-course rivers and streams that are often dry, which have built numerous terraces over time.
• The soils of the delimited parcels for the harvest are shallow, very dry, low in organic matter, invariably very stony and well drained, on terraces of rounded gravel, argillaceous-calcareous soils, or soils derived from schists and Pliocene sands.
• The vineyard area, limited to the west by the 300-metre contour line or the 13°C isotherm, benefits from annual sunshine exceeding 2,500 hours and rainfall of between 500 and 650 millimetres, often stormy and concentrated in spring and autumn.
• The climate of Roussillon is characterised by the frequency — one day in three — and the force of the Tramontane, a very cold north-westerly wind in winter after its passage over the snow-covered summits of the Pyrenees.
• The proximity of the sea provides a moderating effect that tempers the intensity of summer sunshine and maintains a slight nocturnal freshness across the geographical zone.
• The appellation area extends across 89 communes of the Pyrénées-Orientales département and 9 communes of the Aude, including the 4 communes of the geographical zone of the appellation Banyuls.

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)
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — CIVR — Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins du Roussillon