Appellation system - small trouble...

A commune is a juridical/geographical concept unknown in England or America; the nearest equivalent would be "parish". (In German, commune is "Gemeinde", in Italian "comune", btw). A commune is the smallest administrative unit with legislative and executive power, headed by a mayor. Any town would normally be a commune by itself. In rural areas, larger villages are a commune, normally incorporating smaller villages, hamlets etc.

In the case of Côtes-du-Rhône let's say, the wine grown in 500 communes are AOC "Côtes-du-Rhône". Of these 500, 26 have the right to hyphen their name to "Côtes-du-Rhône".

"Vacqueyras", today an appellation of its own (thus being one of the three "Crus" of the area, the other being Chateauneuf and Gigondas), started its career as "Côtes-du-Rhône-Vacqeyras", btw.

HTH,

M.

"Michael Pronay" ha scritto

right

Pardon me, Michael, but I don't understand this one. Reading your post, I understood that the wineries of these 3 particular communes have the right to hyphen theyr names, and thay do it by *removing* the AOC label. Isn't this the oppisite of hyphen? Here we are removing a label which is also a warranty.

In Italy if someone hasn't the DOC label, it means that his wine does not deserve it. I would understand if they had the option to add the name of theyr commune at the AOC "Côtes-du-Rhône".

Can you shed some light? TIA,

Vilco

Or not have friends with sufficient influence to secure that status :-)

(Excuse me, but I couldn't resist)

regards Jan

- great lover of Italy and Italian wines

Which three? Vacqueras, Gigondas and Chateauneuf ate AOCs in their own right, build the top of the quality pyramid in the Rhone valley. This is quite similar to Burgundy, where single Vineyards ("Musigny") have their own AOC, while the commune AOC is "Chambolle-Musigny" (with our without Premier Cru).

The 26 Communes (don't know if they are really 26, but I have this figure in mind) - of which Vinsobres is one - have the right to add their name to the AOC, so you will find "Apellation Côtes-du-Rhône Vinsobres Contrôlée" on the label.

I still can't see your problem.

M.

So if this rule works with other regions, I can find a bottle labelled: "Appellation Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux Saint-Caprais-de-Bordeaux Controlee". Correct?

A.

"Ali Gator" wrote in news:bkvebb$8ce$ snipped-for-privacy@nemesis.news.tpi.pl:

Yes you can, however i don't think it's an automatic rule - it is done on a case-by-case basis (i.e. a village has to apply to be able to append its name to the name of the wine - if you see what I mean). Just because the village exists doesn't mean it is possible to add the name. (for village read also commune).

For example, the village you quote was granted AOC status on 08.Dec.1936 (and most of the others were granted around that time) but other villages were granted control in 1954, 1957, 1987 and 1994.

"Jan Bøgh" ha scritto

wine

status :-)

Excused. Only for the signature ;O)

Vilco

"Michael Pronay" ha scritto

this

add

Côtes-du-Rhône

I see it now: when you first said it, you said:

So I simply saw you were stating "AOC" for the normal communes and omitting it for these special communes. Now I understood what you did mean. And this also sheds some ligth on the ABC I saw on some Bordeaux...

Vilco

No. This rule does not work automatically with other regions.

M.

Ok, thanks for explanation.

A.