Haute Vallée de l'Aude

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The vineyard forms a vast oval amphitheatre around Limoux along the Aude valley, closed to the west by the monts de Chalabre and du Razès, to the east by the Corbières, and open to the north onto the Carcassonnais.
• The vineyard nestles to the south on the foothills of the Audois Pyrenees, which reach their highest point at 1,230 metres at the Pic de Bugarach, with vines climbing to 500 metres in altitude on the sunniest aspects.
• Soils developed on molasse — of detrital origin and heterogeneous in their mix of sands, gravels, and clays — eroded across the upper slopes, make up the bulk of the appellation's soils.
• Soils developed on Sparnacian limestone and clays, at the base of the Eocene, have a high red-clay content and are found mainly in the southern part of the area.
• Soils developed on ancient alluvium correspond to terrace zones where stripped silts give way to exposed pebbles, positioned as plateaux relative to the present-day valleys.
• The climate combines Mediterranean and Atlantic influences, accentuated by the altitudinal gradient, with rainfall of around 750 millimetres per year and a sector swept by westerly winds.

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 28 octobre 2011, JORF 9 novembre 2011
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — Confédération des Vins IGP de France