Terroir is a defined geographical area shaped by a group of people who, throughout its history, bestow a variety of distinctive cultural traits, knowledge and techniques based on an interactive approach between the natural environment and human factors. The know-how this brings about should give originality, typicity and allow the produce or proceedings stemming from this area to be recognised and hence the people who live there. A terroir should be somewhere alive and pioneering, which cannot be simply compared to tradition alone. (Proposal to define terroir put forward by an INRA/INAO working party).
AOC Muscat de Beaumes de VeniseHistory: in 1945 the official ruling came into place, with retroactive effect from 1st September 1943, launching A.O.C. Vin Doux Naturel Muscat de Beaumes de Venise.
Vineyards : on the hillsides around Beaumes de Venise, on the Dentelles de Montmirail’s south-facing slopes.
Soils: are composed of sandy marl to the south and clay-limestone to the north.
Climate: Mediterranean, hot and dry sheltered from the wind by the Dentelles massif.
Variety: Muscat à petits grains, white and black.
Grapes should have natural sugar ripeness of at least 252 g/l.
Fortified during fermentation with pure wine alcohol 95% proof minimum.
Muscat de Beaumes de Venise must contain minimum 110g/l residual sugar and have a minimum alcohol content of 15%.
Vineyards: spread across the south-east slopes of the Dentelles de Montmirail (between 100 and 600m altitude, about 300-1800 feet), around the villages of Beaumes de Venise, Lafare, Suzette and La Roque Alric in the Vaucluse département.
Soils: are made up of Oxonian marl, from the upper Cretaceous and Triassic periods found only in the Côtes du Rhône.
Climate: hot Mediterranean, sheltered from the wind by the Dentelles de Montmirail massif.
Latest: the Appellation has been known for its vin doux naturel, Muscat de Beaumes de Venise, since 1943. In 2005 A.O.C Beaumes de Venise was launched, a Cru zone for its red wines.
Varieties : red Grenache 50% minimum, Syrah 25%, Mourvèdre and other permitted varieties 20% maximum, 5% white grapes.
Minimum alcoholic strength: 12.5%
