Côte-Rôtie AOC
Côte-Rôtie () is a French wine ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) in the northern Rhône wine region of France. The vineyards are located just south of Vienne in the communes of Saint-Cyr-sur-le-Rhône, Ampuis, and Tupin-et-Semons.Inter Rhône: Côte-Rôtie Retrieved 19 January 2010 The vineyards are unique because of the steep slopes facing the river and their stone walls. ''Côte-Rôtie'' can be rendered in English as "the roasted slope" and refers to the long hours of sunlight that these steep slopes receive.E. McCarthy & M. Ewing-Mulligan ''"French Wine for Dummies"'' pg 127-128 Wiley Publishing 2001 The wines are red, made with [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Appellation D'origine Contrôlée
In France, the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (, ; abbr. AOC ) is a label that identifies an agricultural product whose stages of production and processing are carried out in a defined geographical area – the ''terroir'' – and using recognized and traditional know-how. The specificity of an AOC product is determined by the combination of a physical and biological environment with established production techniques transmitted within a human community. Together, these give the product its distinctive qualities. The defining technical and geographic factors are set forth in standards for each product, including wines, cheeses and meats. Other countries and the European Union have similar labeling systems. The European Union's protected designation of origin (PDO and PGI) system has harmonized the protection of all geographical indications and their registration. When labelling wine however, producers may still use recognized traditional terms like AOC, and are not requ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wine Grape
A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,000 years ago, and the fruit has been used as human food throughout its history. Eaten fresh or in dried form (as raisins, currants and sultanas), grapes also hold cultural significance in many parts of the world, particularly for their role in winemaking. Other grape-derived products include various types of jam, juice, vinegar and oil. History The Middle East is generally described as the homeland of grapes and the cultivation of this plant began there 6,000–8,000 years ago. Yeast, one of the earliest domesticated microorganisms, occurs naturally on the skins of grapes, leading to the discovery of alcoholic drinks such as wine. The earliest archeological evidence for a dominant position of wine-making in human culture dates from ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Terrace (agriculture)
A terrace in agriculture is a flat surface that has been cut into hills or mountains to provide areas for the cultivation for crops, as a method of more effective farming. Terrace agriculture or cultivation is when these platforms are created successively down the terrain in a pattern that resembles the steps of a staircase. As a type of landscaping, it is called terracing. Terraced fields decrease both erosion and surface runoff, and may be used to support growing crops that require irrigation, such as rice. The Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras have been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of the significance of this technique. Uses Terraced paddy fields are used widely in rice, wheat and barley farming in East Asia, east, South Asia, south, Western Asia, southwest, and southeast Asia, as well as the Mediterranean Basin, Africa, and South America. Drier-climate terrace farming is common throughout the Mediterranean Basin, where they are used for ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Granite
Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies underground. It is common in the continental crust of Earth, where it is found in igneous intrusions. These range in size from dike (geology), dikes only a few centimeters across to batholiths exposed over hundreds of square kilometers. Granite is typical of a larger family of ''granitic rocks'', or ''granitoids'', that are composed mostly of coarse-grained quartz and feldspars in varying proportions. These rocks are classified by the relative percentages of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase (the QAPF diagram, QAPF classification), with true granite representing granitic rocks rich in quartz and alkali feldspar. Most granitic rocks also contain mica or amphibole minerals, though a few (known as leucogranites) conta ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Schist
Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes or plates. This texture (geology), texture reflects a high content of platy minerals, such as mica, talc, chlorite group, chlorite, or graphite. These are often interleaved with more granular minerals, such as feldspar or quartz. Schist typically forms during regional metamorphism accompanying the process of mountain building (orogeny) and usually reflects a medium Metamorphism#Metamorphic grades, grade of metamorphism. Schist can form from many different kinds of rocks, including sedimentary rocks such as mudstones and igneous rocks such as tuffs. Schist metamorphosed from mudstone is particularly common and is often very rich in mica (a ''mica schis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Soil Type
A soil type is a taxonomic unit in soil science. All soils that share a certain set of well-defined properties form a distinctive soil type. Soil type is a technical term of soil classification, the science that deals with the systematic categorization of soils. Every soil of the world belongs to a certain soil type. Soil type is an abstract term. In nature, you will not find soil types. You will find soils that belong to a certain soil type. In hierarchical soil classification systems, soil types mostly belong to the higher or intermediate level. A soil type can normally be subdivided into subtypes, and in many systems several soil types can be combined to entities of higher category. However, in the first classification system of the United States (Whitney, 1909), the soil type was the lowest level and the mapping unit. For the definition of soil types, some systems use primarily such characteristics that are the result of soil-forming processes ( pedogenesis). An example is ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Harvest (wine)
The harvesting of wine grapes (vintage) is one of the most crucial steps in the process of wine-making. The time of harvest is determined primarily by the Ripening, ripeness of the grape as measured by sugar, acid and tannin levels with winemakers basing their decision to pick based on the style of wine they wish to produce. The weather can also shape the timetable of harvesting with the threat of heat, rain, hail, and frost which can damage the grapes and bring about various vine diseases. In addition to determining the time of the harvest, winemakers and vineyard owners must also determine whether to use hand pickers or Mechanized agriculture, mechanical harvesters. The harvest season typically falls between August & October in the Northern Hemisphere and February & April in the Southern Hemisphere. With various climate conditions, List of grape varieties, grape varieties, and wine styles the harvesting of grapes could happen in every month of the calendar year somewhere in the w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rhône River
The Rhône ( , ; Occitan: ''Ròse''; Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea (Gulf of Lion). At Arles, near its mouth, the river divides into the Great Rhône () and the Little Rhône (). The resulting delta forms the Camargue region. The river's source is the Rhône Glacier, at the east edge of the Swiss canton of Valais. The glacier is part of the Saint-Gotthard Massif, which gives rise to three other major rivers: the Reuss, Rhine and Ticino. The Rhône is, with the Po and the Nile, one of the three Mediterranean rivers with the largest water discharge. Etymology The name ''Rhône'' continues the Latin name (Greek ) in Greco-Roman geography. The Gaulish name of the river was or (from a PIE root *''ret-'' "to run, roll" frequently found in river names). Names in other languages include ; ; ; ; ; and . ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mistral (wind)
The mistral (; ; Corsican: ''maestrale''; ; ; ; ) is a strong, cold, northwesterly wind that blows from southern France into the Gulf of Lion in the northern Mediterranean. It produces sustained winds averaging 31 miles an hour (50 kilometres an hour), sometimes reaching 60 miles an hour (100 kilometres an hour). It can last for several days. Periods of the wind exceeding for more than sixty-five hours have been reported. It is most common in the winter and spring, and strongest in the transition between the two seasons. It affects the northeast of the plain of Languedoc and Provence to the east of Toulon, where it is felt as a strong west wind. It has a major influence all along the Mediterranean coast of France, and often causes sudden storms in the Mediterranean between Corsica and the Balearic Islands. The name ''mistral'' comes from the Languedoc dialect of the Occitan and means "masterly". The same wind is called ''mistrau'' in the Provençal variant of Occitan, ''me ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mediterranean Climate (wine)
In viticulture, the climates of wine regions are categorised based on the overall characteristics of the area's climate during the growing season. While variations in macroclimate are acknowledged, the climates of most wine regions are categorised (somewhat loosely based on the Köppen climate classification) as being part of a Mediterranean (for example Tuscany), maritime (ex: Bordeaux) or continental climate (ex: Columbia ValleyA. Mumma 'The Washington wine difference: it's in the vineyard'' Wines & Vines, November 2005). The majority of the world's premium wine production takes place in one of these three climate categories in locations between the 30th parallel and 50th parallel in both the northern and southern hemisphere.T. Stevenson ''"The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia"'' pg 14-15 Dorling Kindersley 2005 While viticulture does exist in some tropical climates, most notably Brazil, the amount of quality wine production in those areas is so small that the climate effect h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Northern Rhone Valley Wine Regions
Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a range of hills in Trinidad * Northern State (Sudan), one of the 18 wilayat (states) of Sudan Schools * Northern Collegiate Institute and Vocational School (NCIVS), a school in Sarnia, Canada * Northern Secondary School, Toronto, Canada * Northern Secondary School (Sturgeon Falls), Ontario, Canada * Northern University (other), various institutions * Northern Guilford High School, a public high school in Greensboro, North Carolina Companies * Arriva Rail North, a former train operating company in northern England * Chemins de fer du Nord (Northern Railway Company), a former rail transport company in northern France * Nord Aviation, Nord-Aviation (Northern Aviation), a former state-owned France, French aircraft manufacturer. * Compa� ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |