📜 Bourgueil

Bourgueil is a protected designation of origin (PDO, French AOC) for still red and rosé wines from the north bank of the Loire in Touraine, in the Indre-et-Loire department, France. The name was first recognised by decree of 31 July 1937, and the current specification (cahier des charges) was approved by order of 29 November 2023. The name may be complemented by the geographical denomination "Val de Loire".

Grapes are harvested and the wine is made in the delimited area approved by the INAO, which covers the communes of Benais, Bourgueil, La Chapelle-sur-Loire, Chouzé-sur-Loire, Restigné and Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, plus the former communes of Saint-Patrice and Ingrandes-de-Touraine (now part of Coteaux-sur-Loire). Grapes must come from the delimited parcels.

Cabernet Franc is the main variety and Cabernet Sauvignon the accessory one, limited to 10 % of the vineyard. A wine may not be made from Cabernet Sauvignon alone, and Cabernet Franc must dominate any blend. New plantings of Cabernet Franc clones 210, 211 and 212 are forbidden.

The specification sets a minimum planting density of 4,500 vines per hectare, a yield of 55 hl/ha with an upper limit of 65 hl/ha, and a minimum natural alcoholic strength of 10.5 % vol. Grapes must reach at least 180 g of sugar per litre of must for red and 171 g for rosé. Malolactic fermentation must be completed for reds, residual sugar may not exceed 2 g/l in red and 4 g/l in rosé, and total alcohol after enrichment may not exceed 13 % vol.

According to the specification, the vineyard lies north of the Loire below the Gâtine forest. The lower slope has brown calcareous soils over Turonian tuffeau chalk, the mid-slope clay-siliceous soils, and the terraces and low rises called montilles sandy-gravelly soils. In 2009 it covered 1,400 hectares worked by 180 growers, and red wine made up almost 95 % of the volume.