Appellation
Menetou-Salon
Identity card
VillageAOPWhiteRedRosé
Loire Valley › Centre-Loire · Recognised on 23 January 1959
- Village
- Regional
Key points
- Sauvignon Blanc for white, Pinot Noir for red and rosé.
- Ten communes of the Cher, south-west of the Sancerre appellation.
- A single geological formation: Kimmeridgian marls.
Grape varieties
Production rules
6,200
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: A cuesta north-east of Bourges; steep slopes in the east
- Soils: Kimmeridgian marls: brown calcareous soils, rendzinas
- Climate: Degraded oceanic, 800–850 mm a year; spring frost
Wine style
- White
- mineral notes
- citrus, ripe fruit
- smooth on the attack
- fresh finish
- Red
- red fruit
- fine tannins
- power and finesse
- young or after keeping
- Rosé
- pale pink to salmon
- fresh
- delicate fruit
Boundaries: INAO, AOC vineyard plot delimitation (September 2026 edition) · Open Licence
Specification
28 November 2013
Decree no. 2011-1165 of 22 September 2011 on the AOC “Menetou-Salon” (JORF no. 0222 of 24 September 2011), amended by decree no. 2013-1076 of 28 November 2013 (JORF no. 0278 of 30 November 2013); specification published in the Ministry of Agriculture's BO no. 49 of 6 December 2013. Appellation first recognised by the decree of 23 January 1959.
Labelling terms
- The name of the commune of origin may follow the appellation
- The geographical name "Val 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 « Menetou-Salon »— Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité (INAO) / Ministère de l'agriculture
North-east of Bourges, on a cuesta lying south-west of the Sancerre appellation, Menetou-Salon takes in ten communes of the Cher. Recognised in 1959, it makes still, dry wines: whites from Sauvignon Blanc alone, reds and rosés from Pinot Noir alone. Planted in scattered patches, the vineyard closely follows the outcrop of a single geological formation, the Kimmeridgian marls known as the "marnes de Saint-Doulchard".
Mini-challenge
Menetou-Salon
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