Appellation
Cabardès
Identity card
AOPRedRosé
Languedoc-Roussillon · Recognised on 12 February 1999
- Village
- Regional
Key points
- Cabernets and Merlot at least 40%, Grenache and Syrah at least 40%
- Red: at least 12.5% natural alcohol; rosé: 12%; at most 50 hl/ha
- "Atlantic" and Mediterranean grapes below the Montagne Noire
Grape varieties
RedRosé
Cabernet FrancCabernet SauvignonGrenache NoirMerlotSyrah
Accessory varieties: Cinsaut, Cot, Fer Servadou
Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot · at least 40% of the holding's vines
Grenache Noir, Syrah · at least 40% of the holding's vines
Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot · at least 40% of the blend
Grenache Noir, Syrah · at least 40% of the blend
Production rules
4,000
vines/ha
Minimum planting density
Red
50
hl/ha
Maximum yield
12.5
% ABV
Minimum natural alcohol
Rosé
50
hl/ha
Maximum yield
12
% ABV
Minimum natural alcohol
Minimum ageing: Reds: at least until 1 April of the year after the harvest
- Minimum planting density
- The fewest vines allowed per hectare. For the same yield, more vines means fewer grapes on each. For reference: 4,000 vines/ha to 9,000 vines/ha across 96 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Maximum yield
- How much wine a hectare may produce under the appellation (a higher, exceptional ceiling often exists). The lower it is, the less can be made: one of the levers on how concentrated the grapes are.
- Minimum natural alcohol
- The alcohol the grapes' own sugar must be able to give, without enrichment: a ripeness threshold at harvest.
- Minimum ageing
- A minimum ageing period the specification requires before the wine may be sold to consumers.
Terroir
- Lie of the land: A gently sloping balcony from the Montagne Noire to the Aude
- Soils: Always stony soils: schist, limestone, molasse
- Climate: Peri-Mediterranean with Atlantic influences
Wine style
Boundaries: INAO, AOC vineyard plot delimitation (September 2026 edition) · Open Licence
Specification
29 August 2016
Specification approved by decree no. 2011-1777 of 5 December 2011 on the AOC “Cabardès” (JORF no. 0283 of 7 December 2011, text no. 54), amended by the order of 29 August 2016 (JORF no. 0213 of 13 September 2016, text no. 28; consolidated version published in the Bulletin officiel of the Ministry of Agriculture on 15 September 2016, BO no. 38). Appellation first recognised by the decree of 12 February 1999.
Labelling terms
- The larger geographical unit "Languedoc" may appear
Nearby appellations
Sources
- Official sourceCahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine contrôlée « Cabardès »— Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité (INAO) / Ministère de l'agriculture
Backed by the Montagne Noire, Cabardès spreads over eighteen communes of the Aude, a balcony sloping gently down towards the Aude valley; its Mediterranean climate takes in Atlantic influences. It makes dry reds and rosés from a blend of so-called "Atlantic" grapes (Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot) and "Mediterranean" ones (Grenache, Syrah, Cinsaut): the Cabernets and Merlot on one side, Grenache and Syrah on the other, each make up at least 40%. The reds are aged at least until 1 April of the year after the harvest.
Mini-challenge
Cabardès
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