Roussillon: Blending, Soils, and Altitudes

While Burgundy has its “climats,” Roussillon boasts deep and often very diverse terroirs (granite, schist, quartz, limestone, marl, etc.). Elise Gaillard shares her thoughts on the AOC system—a somewhat thorny subject—and also talks about her soils and...

What is an Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC)?

The Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) was created to highlight a specific terroir. Terroir refers to the interplay between soil, climate, and tradition (in terms of winemaking expertise). Thus, if there is a deviation from the grape variety, the spacing between vines, or the pruning method, or if the soil is no longer the same, the wine no longer qualifies for the appellation.

An AOC is defined by the soil, climate, and traditions

One might think that the main factor is the soil. This is very clear in the northern Rhône Valley: Côte Rôtie has schist; St. Joseph has granite. But we can also approach the AOCs from the perspective of climate: Cornas has granite soil (like St. Joseph), but its slopes face south and benefit from a more southern influence than neighboring St. Joseph. So two appellations are created.

And finally, an AOC can be established based on tradition. This is the case with the Côtes du Roussillon. The most common wines are naturally sweet wines, such as those from Rivesaltes. But dry wines have always been produced there as well. Consequently, the Côte du Roussillon AOC was established, which covers a very large area. Consequently, the Roussillon region features various soil types, altitudes, microclimates, and so on.

So the soil isn’t the only indicator of terroir. What sets me apart in Collioure is that I work exclusively with schist. So I can’t play around with the influence of my soil, as they do in the Côte du Roussillon; I have only one expression (with its variations).

Elise Gaillard, winemaker at Domaine Madeloc: “There may be too many AOCs in France”

I think there might be too many AOCs in France. We might be losing consumers, and we might not be strictly adhering to the 1936 definition.

If we want to be AOC purists, we immediately think of the Burgundian concept of “climat”: a specific plot of land, an orientation, and a grape variety. The Roussillon tradition, on the other hand, is all about blending (the vineyards are mixed-planted, meaning that white and red grape varieties are grown together in the same plot), the diversity of soils, and the variations in elevation (given the slopes, you can quickly go from 0 to 400 meters in altitude!). There is therefore no uniformity of taste across each Roussillon appellation, but perhaps that is the key—and the joy—of discovering new things!