Haute Vallée de l'Aude

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• A vast oval amphitheatre around Limoux, enclosed by the Pyrenees (1,230 m at the Pic de Bugarach), the monts de Chalabre, and the Corbières, open to the north toward the Carcassonnais.
• Complex geology shaped by Pyrenean orogenesis, with three soil types: detrital molasse, Sparnacian (Eocene) limestone and clays, and ancient alluvial deposits with rounded stones.
• Climate of dual Mediterranean and oceanic influence, amplified by altitudinal gradients: vines planted up to 500 m, approximately 750 mm of rainfall per year, westerly winds, cool Septembers, and late ripening.
• The vineyard is traversed by the Aude and its tributaries along a south–north axis; the geology is highly compartmentalised, shaped by Pyrenean uplift.

Facts drawn from the cahier's terroir-link section (Lien au terroir) by automatic interpretation — see the source.

Sources

• Product specification (BO Agri, PDF), JORF 9 novembre 2011
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry