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In Reply to: Go on...? posted by Mike.S. on April 18, 2001 at 14:10:57:
Ok, the french are regionalists to an extreme - and have sought to preserve thier regional identity in local produce using an appelation system. Under this system, only produce that meet strict local rules (not laws), can only be marked as AOC (Appelation d'origine Controlle).
This relates to wines simply.
The AOC has fixed ratios of varietals to included in its wine (merlot, cabernet, etc) that must be abided by for the AOC status. In addition, the method of ferment and bottleing also falls under the AOC. Chapetalisation is very strictly controlled - basically, if no-one within the AOC terrain has been able to produce a AOC grape juice blend with sufficient sugar to start and sustain a ferment to the point of keeping (i.e. 11% and above), then chapitalisation may be sanctioned.Downside - wine producers produce what the market desires,and many use AOC as a minimum basic quality standard. If you want an AOC cahors, then a typical Cahors is what you'll get - limited by the skill of the winemaker, the terrain and weather (plus all the other ageing variables), so thier hands are pretty tied.
However, recently 'overseas' winemakers using the modern style have been able to buck the AOC trend, capitalising on thier skill and marketing of these new wines to create sufficient demand to facilitate and continue production - the majority is exported, and the quality is typically very good to excellent.
Have fun
Owe
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