The AOC Côte-Roannaise is attached to the Centre-Loire sub-region, its appellation area is located in the AuvergneVineyard">Vineyards. It is located in the North of the Loire dePartment, leaning against the Madeleine (a chain of the Massif Central), covering 210 hectares. The vineyard is marked by numerous waterways which create very favourable situations for the vine to flourish. Gamay, the only Grape variety used in the production of the red and rosé wines of the Côte-Roannaise AOC, finds its ideal soil in the granite soils.
Approximately 10,000 hectolitres are produced each year on this Terroir. The wines, vinified in semi-carbonic Maceration for the most part, are light and balanced, with notes of wild blackberries and morello cherries. The rosé wines are reputed to be excellent when produced in the commune of Ambierle.
Despite the lowest number of barrels going under the hammer in 15 years, the 2021 Hospices de Beaune charity auction broke per-barrel price records, reaching an impressive total sales figure of €12.5m (£10.48m/$14.09m), excluding buyer premiums. The total was not too far behind last year’s high tally – close to €13.44 million – where almost double the number of barrels were sold. This year’s sale, with 362 lots, including seven barrels of spirits, reached an average price per lot of €34,980 (£29 ...
Whenever I visit Domaine Richaud, just outside the village of Cairanne, the winemaking team remind me of friends I made at free parties in the 1990s in fields and disused warehouses. I’m not talking dreadlocks and dogs on strings, but there’s always an anarchic frisson in the air. You get the impression they know how to enjoy themselves. Perhaps it’s to be expected, given the radical furrow Marcel Richaud has ploughed. He’s approaching 70 now, but still thrums with pent-up energy, his ice-blue e ...
The Champagne house expanded into the region when it acquired Maison Langlois-Chateau in Saumur back in 1973. It then bolstered its presence in Sancerre with the acquisition of Château de Thauvenay in 2016. Now it has tied up a deal to bring the family-run Hubert Brochard estate into the fold. ‘The acquisition of Hubert Brochard estate represents a unique opportunity to consolidate our footprint in this fantastic region and to continue to promote, in France and internationally, its savoir-faire ...
