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Vin de Pays des Gaules - almost!

Categories: Bordeaux, Burgundy Beaujolais, South West France wines, Wines of France Updated October 22, 2007

pays_de_Gaules.jpg
Along with the new Vin de Pays de l’Atlantique in South West France there is also to be a new Vin de pays des Gaules (Wine of the Land of the Gauls)in the Beaujolais region - or is there??
The proposal was for the Vin de Pays des Gaules to be produced in the Rhone region and parts of the Saone-et-Loire departement : from Leynes, in northern Beaujolais to Chazay d’Azergues in the south.

Both appellations are designed to offer an alternative to an oversupply of Bordeaux and Beaujolais AC wines, offering winemakers the opportunity to make a wide range of wines with fewer restrictions. In the Pays de Gaules Gamay will be the overwhelmingly predominant grape, with Chardonnay, Pinot, Syrah, Viognier, Aligoté and 13 other allowed varietals.
However, there is a hitch in the system as the EU has ruled that the names of these 2 appellations are not sufficiently geographically recognisable. Someone, somewhere has got something wrong, which is a shame as these new wines could be very helpful if reducing the volume of over-priced and mediocre Bordeaux and Beaujolais and encourage some experimentation, WInemakers have been planning this new wine for some time, with labels already printed, as the above image demonstrates - from the Cave des Vignerons de St Laurent d’Oignt.
The new Vin de Pays des Gaules will not be allowed to compete with Beaujolais Nouveau however, as it cannot be marketed until mid-December, a month after the release of the Nouveau.

If you know more or better, let us know below

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