Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical bo ...

French wine French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and Ameri ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.Lorraine ''région''. The Côtes de Toul vineyards cover in an area close to

Toul Toul () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Toul is between Commercy and Nancy, and the river Moselle and Canal de la Marne au Rhin. Climate Toul ...

, to the west of the city of Nancy. The area of production includes the following

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

: Blénod-lès-Toul, Bruley, Bulligny,

Charmes-la-Côte Charmes-la-Côte () is a commune of Meurthe-et-Moselle department in northeastern France. See also *Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department The following is a list of the 591 communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department of France. Th ...

, Domgermain, Lucey, Mont-le-Vignoble and

Pagney-derrière-Barine Pagney-derrière-Barine () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department *Parc naturel régional de Lorraine Lorraine Regional Natural Park ( F ...

. Annual production is 4,500 hectoliter, corresponding to 600,000 bottles. Côtes de Toul has been classified as an AOC since 1998, when it was promoted from its previous VDQS status. Together with the other Lorraine wine designations, AOC Moselle and

Vin de Pays ''Vin de pays'' (, "country wine") was a French wine classification that was above the '' vin de table'' classification, but below the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) classification and below the former ''vin délimité de qualité s ...

de la Meuse, the produce of the of Lorraine vineyards is often referred to in French as ''Vins de l'est'', "wines of the east".ONIVINS: Synthèse régional: Nord-Est
accessed on December 20, 2009 Most Côtes de Toul and other Lorraine wines are consumed in Lorraine itself, with only a small proportion reaching the rest of France and nearby export markets.

Wine styles

Côtes de Toul exists as white, red and rosé wine, the latter under the designation

Vin Gris ''Vin gris'' () is a variant of ''rosé'' wine made from red grapes, in particular ''Pinot noir'' and ''Pinot gris''. ''Pinot noir'' is a black grape, but can also be used to make rosé or white wine. When the grapes are brought to the winery and c ...

.

Gamay Gamay is a purple-colored grape variety used to make red wines, most notably grown in Beaujolais and in the Loire Valley around Tours. Its full name is Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc. It is a very old cultivar, mentioned as long ago as the 15th centu ...

-dominated Vin gris is the most common wine, supplemented primarily by Auxerrois blanc-based white wines and relatively light red wines from

Pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French words for ''pine'' and ''black.'' The word ''pine ...

.

History

While Lorraine as such is not thought of as a wine region today, the region has a viticultural history going back to Roman times, and winemaking became important during the 15th century due to the

Dukes of Lorraine The rulers of Lorraine have held different posts under different governments over different regions, since its creation as the kingdom of Lotharingia by the Treaty of Prüm, in 855. The first rulers of the newly established region were kings of ...

and the

Bishops of Toul The Diocese of Toul was a Roman Catholic diocese seated at Toul in present-day France. It existed from 365 until 1802. From 1048 until 1552 ('' de jure'' until 1648), it was also a state of the Holy Roman Empire. History The diocese was ...

, with the mid-17th century claimed to have been a particularly successful period. The region's wine industry remained substantial up until the 19th century. In similarity to many other northern French wine areas, such as those in

Yonne Yonne () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the river Yonne, which flows through it, in the country's north-central part. One of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's eight constituent departments, it is l ...

, the combination of increased competition from

Languedoc-Roussillon Languedoc-Roussillon (; oc, Lengadòc-Rosselhon ; ca, Llenguadoc-Rosselló) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania. It comprised five departments, and b ...

following the introduction of

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

transport, and the

Phylloxera epidemic The Great French Wine Blight was a severe blight of the mid-19th century that destroyed many of the vineyards in France and laid waste to the wine industry. It was caused by an aphid that originated in North America and was carried across the A ...

(followed by replanting with grape varieties unsuitable for quality wine production) contributed to the demise of the region's wine production. In the case of Lorraine, industrialisation, destruction during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and the delimitation of the nearby

Champagne region The wine region within the historical province of Champagne in the northeast of France is best known for the production of champagne, the sparkling white wine that bears the region's name. EU law and the laws of most countries reserve the term ...

also contributed. Before the delimitation, Lorraine grapes would go into

Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...

. Around 1930, a handful of local growers embarked on a programme of replanting with

grafted Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion () while the lower part is called the rootstock. The succ ...

quality grape varieties, which laid the foundation for the VDQS designation awarded in 1951.Get French: French wines, Côtes de Toul
accessed on December 20, 2009 The coveted AOC designation followed on March 31, 1998.AOC regulations, consolidated version of October 18, 2009
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AOC regulations

Grape varieties

The

grape varieties This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see V ...

allowed in Côtes de Toul are the following: *For white wine:

Aubin blanc Aubin blanc (or simply Aubin) is a white wine grape from the upper reaches of the Moselle valley in eastern France. History DNA fingerprinting has shown that Aubin is the result of a cross between Gouais blanc and Savagnin. Gouais blanc was wide ...

(a local speciality) and Auxerrois blanc. *For red wine:

Pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French words for ''pine'' and ''black.'' The word ''pine ...

only. *For vin gris (rosé wine):

Gamay Gamay is a purple-colored grape variety used to make red wines, most notably grown in Beaujolais and in the Loire Valley around Tours. Its full name is Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc. It is a very old cultivar, mentioned as long ago as the 15th centu ...

(the most common grape variety in the AOC) and Pinot noir as the main grape varieties, and Aubin blanc, Auxerrois blanc and Pinot Meunier as accessory grape varieties. For Vin Gris, at least two grape varieties must be used, and the major grape variety is not allowed to exceed 85%. At least 10% Pinot noir must be used, and the total proportion of accessory grape varieties is not allowed to exceed 15%.

Other requirements

The allowed base yield is 60 hectoliter per hectare for white wine and Vin Gris, and 45 hl/ha for red wine. The minimum required grape maturity is 9.5%

potential alcohol Must weight is a measure of the amount of sugar in grape juice (must) and, hence, indicates the amount of alcohol that could be produced if it is all fermented to alcohol, rather than left as residual sugar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cotes De Toul French wine AOCs Meurthe-et-Moselle