Land areas for growing wines are limited throughout France and are
graded according to the quality of the soil/grapes produced.
Since 2010, the categories and classifications
of wine producing land and the wines themselves are changing:
AOC ( appellation d’origine controllée) is
renamed AOP (appellation d’origine protegée)
VDP ( vin de pay) is renamed IGP (indication
géographique protégée) or AOP (depending upon quality).
VDT (vin de table) remains unchanged for the
immediate future.
Why change the names; in order to bring French
wine production in line with the rest of Europe.
As before, the volume of wine produced per
hectare is limited and controlled.
AOC/AOP is limited to 45 – 55 hectolitres per
hectare:
VDP/IGP is limited to 80-90 hectolitres per
hectare:
In broad terms, the AOC/AOP classification
refers to the land and the blend of grapes; The IGP is related to the land and
soil, with a quality requirement, not necessarily relating to blends.
The work in a vineyard is divided
into 3 distinct stages:-
Farming - pruning, treating and
harvesting the grapes. This work can be done by employed staff (1
man per 10-15 hectares), by contract labour or enthusiastic owners.
Wine Making - vinification,
controlling fermentation, blending different grape varieties and
bottling.
Marketing - the most difficult of the
three jobs: to achieve maximum profitability from a vineyard the
wine must be sold in bottles. Vitually all wines have a potential
market and the success of a vineyard depends on the ability to sell
at the optimum time at the highest price and not from necessity for
cash flow.
Each of these stages can be
contracted out to professionals to the point of handing over the
running of an estate in return for a percentage of the production
(average 1/3rd)
