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French expression meaning `country wine' which was adopted for an intermediate category of wines created in France in 1973, and formalized in 1979, to recognize and encourage the production of wines that are distinctly superior to basic vin de table, and which, in theory at least, offer some stamp of regional identity. Hence the creation of more than 140 different vins de pays, all of them carrying some geographical designation mirroring the principles of the appellation controlee (AC) system. To qualify as a vin de pays, a wine must not be blended, must be produced in limited quantities, must be made of certain specified grape varieties, must reach a certain minimum alcoholic strength, and must be submitted to a tasting panel, as well as coming from a specified area. By 1993, more than a fifth of all wine produced in France was sold as a vin de pays of some sort and the proportion had risen to 27 per cent by 1997.
In many regions the vine-grower has a clear choice between making an appellation wine, or producing a vin de pays either because yields are too high to qualify for an AC, or because he or she grows (as is often the case with new or imported international varieties) grape varieties permitted by the local vin de pays regulations but prohibited by those of the local AC. In general vins de pays may be produced from grapes which yield up to 90 hl/ha (5 tons/acre) while 50 hl/ha or so is a more likely maximum yield permitted by appellation regulations. There are three levels of vin de pays: Four are regional: Vin de Pays d'Oc from the Languedoc; Vin de Pays du Jardin de la France from the Loire; Vin de Pays du Comte Tolosan, most of South West France; and Vin de Pays des Comtes Rhodaniens incorporating Ardeche, Beaujolais, Jura, Savoie, and the northern Rhone. About 50 are departmental. These are named after one of France's departements, or counties, such as Vin de Pays de l'Herault, Vin de Pays de Loire-Atlantique, Vin de Pays de Tarn-et-Garonne, or Vin de Pays de l'Ardeche (these are, respectively, specific departements within each of the regions above). Even more are locally specific. These may be named after some historical or geographical phenomenon such as Vin de Pays des Coteaux de Murviel, Vin de Pays des Marches de Bretagne, Vin de Pays des Coteaux du Quercy, or Vin de Pays des Coteaux de l'Ardeche (each a local denomination within the four departmental vins de pays specified above). Some of these locally specific vins de pays names are virtually unused, some of the smaller ones have been developed as commercially useful exclusivities by individual merchants, and many of them are unknown outside their district of origin. Their names in many cases bear no relation to current geography-although historical nomenclature has clearly been a useful source for local officials charged with finding names which would present no confusion with the name of any existing AC or VDQS wine. (The French authorities have been keen to make a very clear distinction between vins de pays and wines which are accorded the full sanction of AC status.) Some of the local names are simply too difficult for export markets, often unsure of the exact spelling of even vin de pays, to grasp. Vin de Pays des Coteaux du Cresivaudan, for example, will not be asked for by name by many outside Savoie, while the name of the south western Vin de Pays des Coteaux et Terrasses de Montauban seems unnecessarily pedantic. Other exercises in nomenclature have represented strokes of genius. The image of Corsica is transformed in the name Vin de Pays de l'ile de Beaute, just as the Loire sounds even prettier as the Jardin de la France, while Roussillon's vins de pays quite rightly emphasize the region's ethnic origins in Vin de Pays Catalans and Vin de Pays des Cotes Catalans. A certain amount of red, and some white, vin de pays primeur is produced each year, and may be released on the third Thursday of October (thereby beating Beaujolais Nouveau by a full month). The vins de pays which have enjoyed enormous success outside France are those labelled as varietals, a concept viewed with such distaste by the INAO, which oversees AC labelling, that vins de pays present the modern consumer with virtually the only means of acquiring a wine that is both French and labelled with a familiar grape variety such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, or Cabernet Sauvignon (or, increasingly, with a less familiar variety such as Marsanne, Terret, or Viognier). Some non-French customers could be much more attracted by a Chardonnay, Vin de Pays d'Oc, than, for example, a full AC counterpart carrying a less familiar name such as St-Romain or a Bugey, for example. Reverence for the words `appellation controlee' is a French phenomenon. Vins de pays have been particularly successful in Germany and Great Britain. The most important single vin de pays is Vin de Pays d'Oc, which is France's prime source of varietal wine. About 85 per cent of all vins de pays come from the Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence, or the southern Rhone. A further six per cent come from the Loire. Vin de pays has also provided a useful way of selling the surplus produce of vines grown in regions specializing in brandy production. Crisp, dry white Vin de Pays des Cotes de Gascogne was in the early 1980s a commercial saviour in armagnac country, while the cognac counterpart is Vin de Pays Charentais. In every ten bottles of vin de pays, about seven are red, two are rose, and one is white. In general in the 1980s they sold at lower prices than most AC wines, often quite rightly as many of these wines can be thin on flavour. Some producers, however, are becoming increasingly ambitious in their wine-making techniques and a number of vins de pays may be the products of low yields and expensive barrel fermentation or barrel maturation, and may be offered, and sold, at relatively robust prices. The pioneer was Mas de Daumas Gassac, an internationally famous wine which is sold merely as a departmental Vin de Pays de l'Herault, but there are now scores, if not hundreds of equally ambitious producers of vins de pays, especially in the Languedoc-Roussillon, making some of the best-value wines in the world. Bibliography - Atkin, T., Vins de pays (London, 1994).Vins de pays of France (Paris, 1991).
References alcoholic strength appellation controlee Ardeche armagnac barrel fermentation barrel maturation Beaujolais brandy cognac France INAO international varieties Jura Languedoc Loire primeur Rhone Savoie South West France varietal VDQS vin de table yield
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