From Markus Schmidli
, at 30. June 2010 16:28
by Panos Kakaviatos – Rasteau in the southern Rhône has been elevated to AOC status, appellations body the INAO announced this month. The commune has been promoted from Côtes du Rhône Villages, with the designation backdated to cover the 2009 vintage.
With 75% of vineyards on hillsides rising between 500 and 1000 feet, Rasteau, with its smooth, stone covered clay-limestone terraces, has been long considered a top red Côtes du Rhône Villages wine, an AOC that was granted in 1966.
Rasteau’s application to be elevated to a specific AOC as a dry red wine has taken almost a decade to be approved. The winegrowers’ syndicate requested it 2002, but experts from a board of inquiry studied the vineyards and excluding some 100 hectares from the current 1300 before granting the status, according to a press release.
‘This decision is a natural acknowledgment of the quality of the Rasteau terroir, a point that had to be made clear to consumers, and a definite message to the market,’ said Jean-Jacques Dost, general manager of Ortas Cave de Rasteau, leading producer and marketer of the new AOC Rasteau.
Rasteau now counts as a member of an inner circle of Southern Rhône AOCs, including Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Tavel, Lirac, Gigondas, Vacqueyras and Beaumes de Venise. www.decanter.com
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