Appellation
Roussette de Savoie
Identity card
RegionalAOPWhite
Savoie · Recognised on 4 September 1973
Key points
- White from Altesse alone; "roussette" refers to the russet berries.
- At most 64 hl/ha, at least 10% natural alcohol; denominations: 60 hl/ha, 10.5%.
- Marestel is named after Claude Mareste, ennobled in 1563.
Grape varieties
White wine onlyAltesse
Altesse alone, with or without a geographical denomination
Production rules
64
hl/ha
Maximum yield
10
% ABV
Minimum natural alcohol
5,000
vines/ha
Minimum planting density
- 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. For reference: 35 hl/ha to 80 hl/ha across 96 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum natural alcohol
- The alcohol the grapes' own sugar must be able to give, without enrichment: a ripeness threshold at harvest. For reference: 9 % ABV to 14 % ABV across 46 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- 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 105 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
Terroir
- Lie of the land: Islands of vines in an arc on the Alpine foothills
- Soils: Poor, well-drained clay-limestone morainic hills
- Aspect: Slopes facing south and south-west
Wine style
- Honey
- fresh attack
- white fruit
- Marestel: broader
Boundaries: INAO, AOC vineyard plot delimitation (September 2026 edition) · Open Licence
Specification
24 August 2021
Arrêté du 24 août 2021 homologuant le cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine contrôlée « Roussette de Savoie » (JORF n°0202 du 31 août 2021, texte n°23), abrogeant le décret n° 2011-1179 du 23 septembre 2011. Appellation d'origine contrôlée « initialement reconnue par le décret du 4 septembre 1973 » (cahier des charges, chap. I, I, `inao-cdc-roussette-de-savoie`, lu le 2026-10-10 ; la date de 1957 n'y figure pas).
Labelling terms
- Frangy, Marestel, Monterminod or Monthoux after the name
- The variety may be named, in letters under two-thirds the size of the AOC name
Nearby appellations
Sources
- Official sourceCahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine contrôlée « Roussette de Savoie »— INAO / Ministère de l'agriculture (Bulletin officiel)
- Official sourceFiche produit INAO — Roussette de Savoie— Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité (INAO)
- Official sourcePl@ntGrape — le catalogue des vignes cultivées en France— IFV, INRAE et Institut Agro Montpellier (UMT Géno-Vigne®)
- Official sourceVIVC passport data — ALTESSE (variety number 354)— Julius Kühn-Institut — Vitis International Variety Catalogue
A single-variety appellation, reserved for still white wines made from altesse B — known locally as "roussette", after the russet tint its berries take on at maturity, a name that eventually gave the appellation its own. An appellation d'origine contrôlée since the decree of 4 September 1973, its name may be followed by one of four complementary geographical denominations: Frangy, Marestel, Monterminod and Monthoux.
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