Saint-Julien AOC
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Saint-Julien () is an ''
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 ...
'' (AOC) for red
wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...
in the
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
region, located in the Médoc subregion. It takes its name from the commune Saint-Julien-Beychevelle and is one of the six communal appellations in Médoc. A number of classified (''Grand Cru Classé'') Bordeaux estates are located within the appellation.


History

The tradition of wine-growing in Saint-Julien-Beychevelle and the way in which its ''
terroir (; ; from ''terre'', ) is a French language, French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, th ...
'' has come to prominence parallels the history of the Médoc wines in general.


Appellation


Area of designated origin

Saint-Julien wines are mainly produced in the commune of Saint-Julien-Beychevelle, but a few plots can be found elsewhere in Cussac-Fort-Médoc and Saint-Laurent-Médoc. Saint-Julien-Beychevelle is located between the Margaux and Pauillac appellations, on the left bank of the
Gironde estuary The Gironde estuary ( , US usually ; , ; , ) is a navigable estuary (though often referred to as a river) in southwest France and is formed from the meeting of the rivers Dordogne and Garonne just downstream of the centre of Bordeaux. Coverin ...
.


Geology and orography

The vineyards lie on a bed of sedimentary rock. Unlike the surface soil, which is an unbroken expanse of pebbles, the subsoil is surprisingly complex and is the reason why Saint-Julien wines vary so much in character.Data sheet for AOC Saint-Julien
on the website ''medoc-bordeaux.com'', 1st Feb. 2010.


The vineyards


Grape varieties

The grape varieties grown under this appellation are the same as those found throughout the Médoc area, i.e. predominantly
Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...
, along with
Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux (wine), Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire (wine), Loire's C ...
,
Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...
,
Malbec Malbec () is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. In France, plantations of Malbec are ...
,
Petit Verdot Petit Verdot is a variety of red wine grape, principally used in classic Bordeaux blends. It ripens much later than the other varieties in Bordeaux, often too late, so it fell out of favour in its home region. When it does ripen it adds tannin, ...
and Carménère (traces only). The maximum permitted yield per
hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...
is 45 hectolitres, wherever the
density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...
of planting is between 6,500 and 10,000 vines per hectare. This appellation is traditionally divided into two areas, although this is a matter of some controversy. The southern wines, which are smoother and more feminine, are closely related to the Margaux wines, while the northern wines, which are more robust and powerful (the Léoville wines, for example, bordering the vineyards of Latour), have more in common with the wines of Pauillac.


Estates

In the
Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 resulted from the Exposition Universelle (1855), 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, when Emperor Napoleon III of France, Napoleon III requested a classification system for France's best Bordea ...
, there are no First Growths in Saint-Julien, but several rated Second Growths.


See also

*
Médoc AOC Médoc () is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, AOC for wine in the Bordeaux wine region of southwestern France, on the Left Bank of the Gironde estuary that covers the northern section of the viticulture, viticultural strip along the Médoc p ...
*
Bordeaux wine Bordeaux wine (; ) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city, the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the broad estuary called the Gironde; the Gi ...


References


Saint-Julien
Bordeaux.com, Le Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB) ;Footnotes


External links


Médoc wines
Conseil des Vins du Médoc Bordeaux AOCs {{Portal bar, Wine, France