Appellation
Coteaux du Giennois
Identity card
VillageAOPWhiteRedRosé
Loire Valley › Centre-Loire · Recognised on 15 May 1998
- Village
- Regional
Key points
- Sauvignon Blanc for white; Gamay and Pinot Noir blended for red and rosé.
- Fourteen communes of the Loiret and the Nièvre, around Gien and Cosne.
- An AOC since 1998, after being classified as a VDQS in 1954.
Grape varieties
RedRosé
Allowed varieties
Gamay · 80% at most of the holding's vines
Pinot Noir · 80% at most of the holding's vines
Gamay · 80% at most of the blend
Pinot Noir · 80% at most of the blend
Always a blend of both, neither above 80%
Production rules
5,700
vines/ha
Minimum planting density
Red
59
hl/ha
Maximum yield
10.5
% ABV
Minimum natural alcohol
White
65
hl/ha
Maximum yield
10.5
% ABV
Minimum natural alcohol
Rosé
63
hl/ha
Maximum yield
10.5
% ABV
Minimum natural alcohol
Minimum ageing: Reds: at least until 1 March 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 164 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: Loire slopes from Gien to Cosne; 180 to 250 m
- Soils: Jurassic limestone, chalk, lacustrine limestone
- Climate: Degraded oceanic, Sancerre-hills foehn; 650 mm a year
Wine style
- White
- Quince
- white flowers
- minerality and freshness
- dry
- Red
- finesse and fruit
- red and black fruit
- spicy notes
- Rosé
- fine and delicate
- slightly peppery attack
- ripe fruit, vine peach
Boundaries: INAO, AOC vineyard plot delimitation (September 2026 edition) · Open Licence
Specification
2 September 2026
Order of 2 September 2026 approving the specification of the AOC “Coteaux du Giennois” (JORF no. 0208 of 6 September 2026, text no. 15; Ministry of Agriculture BO no. 38 of 17 September 2026). Appellation first recognised by the decree of 15 May 1998.
Labelling terms
- The geographical name "Vin de Loire" may be added
- The name of a registered lieu-dit may appear on the label
Nearby appellations
Sources
- Official sourceCahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine contrôlée « Coteaux du Giennois »— Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité (INAO) / Ministère de l'agriculture
The Coteaux du Giennois run north to south for some 45 kilometres, from Gien to Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire, along a band of slopes above the Loire and a few of its tributaries. Recognised as an AOC in 1998, the appellation makes still wines: whites from Sauvignon Blanc alone, and reds and rosés that always blend Gamay and Pinot Noir. The vines, at 180 to 250 metres, get little rain, about 650 mm a year.
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Coteaux du Giennois
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