Monbazillac

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Accessory grape varieties

Terroir

• The outcropping formations belong to the series of lacustrine and fluvio-lacustrine deposits of the Eocene and Oligocene, with a particular stratigraphic sequence encountered as one ascends the slope of Monbazillac.
• The ascent of the Monbazillac slope passes successively through the sandy-clayey molasses of the lower Eocene, the molasses du fronsadais in soft carbonated sandstone, the Calcaire de Castillon, then the molasses de l'Agenais, within which the Calcaire de Monbazillac, with its silicified slabs, is intercalated.
• This stratigraphy has given rise to three main soil types: clayey and calcareous soils at the foot of the slope, thin calcareous soils at the outcrop of the parent rock, and leached, slightly acidic soils developed on molasses at the tops of the ridges.
• The Dordogne/Gardonnette interfluve, oriented broadly east–west, displays a strong asymmetry, with a very steep north-facing slope down to the Dordogne valley and a plateau with a much gentler gradient to the south toward the Gardonnette valley.
• The climate is strongly oceanic, close to that of the Bordeaux region, but with a somewhat more continental character — thus less rainy and slightly cooler — and with relatively high atmospheric humidity linked to oceanic air masses and to the hydrographic network of the Dordogne and its tributaries.
• The geographical zone encompasses the terraces and hillsides extending from the left bank of the Dordogne to the right bank of the Gardonnette, and covers the territory of five communes.

• The monks of a Benedictine priory established at Bergerac in the eleventh century cleared the hill of Mont-Bazaillac and there discovered by chance the beneficial action of Botrytis cinerea on their neglected vines.
• After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, the emigration of Huguenot families to Holland developed the wine trade toward northern Flanders, giving rise to the thirty-two 'Dutch brands' branded in red-hot iron on the barrels.
• Harvesting is always carried out by successive manual passes — generally three — in order to perpetuate the expertise discovered by the monks and to select berries according to the development of the parasitic fungus.
• The Monbazillac vineyard, entirely destroyed by the phylloxera crisis in 1885, was reconstituted through grafting, and one third of the vineyard had been replanted by the end of the First World War.

• The wine must display a minimum content of fermentable sugars of 45 grams per litre, which firmly affirms its sweet character.
• The colour is golden, deepening over time, and the wine is generally dominated by aromas of honey, acacia and peach, with nuances of citrus and candied mirabelle plum.
• The term Sélection de Grains Nobles imposes more restrictive conditions of ripeness and harvesting and prohibits any recourse to enrichment.
• On the palate, sweetness can sometimes be very high, which undermines balance through a lack of freshness, making the blend difficult to harmonise.

• Atmospheric humidity oscillating between 85% and 90% encourages the development of Botrytis cinerea, whose activity is strongly slowed by the heat of the afternoon.

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 — IVBD — Vins de Bergerac & Duras