This communication is published in accordance with Article 17(5) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33 (1).

COMMUNICATING THE APPROVAL OF A STANDARD AMENDMENT

‘Saint-Mont’

PDO-FR-A0711-AM02

Date of communication: 8 January 2025

DESCRIPTION OF AND REASONS FOR THE APPROVED AMENDMENT

1.   Vine varieties

The late variety introduced into the vine varieties in 2020 as a variety of interest for the purpose of adaptation becomes a secondary variety. Manseng N thus remains the only variety of interest for adaptation purposes.

The vine varieties of the designation are therefore as follows:

Red wines:

—	main variety: Tannat N

—	supplementary varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon N and Fer N

—	secondary varieties: Cabernet Franc N, Merlot N and Tardif N

—	varieties of interest for adaptation purposes: Manseng N

Rosé wines:

—	main varieties: Tannat N, Cabernet Sauvignon N and Fer N

—	secondary varieties: Cabernet Franc N, Merlot N, Tardif N, Manseng B, Arrufiac B, Petit Courbu B, Courbu B and Petit Manseng B

—	varieties of interest for adaptation purposes: Manseng N

The purpose of this amendment is to increase the proportion of the Tardif variety in the vine varieties covered by the denomination. This is because the variety is adapted to the challenges posed by climate change and by the reduction in the use of plant protection products. It also offers considerable wine-growing benefits in that it supports the development of the aromatic complexity, quality and uniqueness of the wines covered by the designation, all while maintaining its identity. It also draws on the region’s wine-growing heritage.

These amendments affect the single document.

2.   Harvest

Sugar content of the grapes

Following the introduction of the Tardif variety as a secondary variety, the sugar content of the grapes has been adjusted for it accordingly.

This amendment does not affect the single document.

3.   Geographical area

The product specification has been amended to incorporate the reference to the Official Geographic Code, which recognises and lists the municipalities by department at national level. This editorial amendment allows the geographical area to be identified with reference to the current version of the Official Geographic Code, which is issued by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), and gives the definition of the geographical area legal certainty.

The same reference has been added to the single document, under the heading ‘Geographical area’.

4.   Demarcated parcel area

The specification has been amended to include a new date for the approval of the demarcation of parcels under the designation.

The purpose of this amendment is to add the date on which the competent national authority approved a modification of the demarcated parcel area within the geographical area of production. Parcels are demarcated by identifying the parcels within the geographical area of production that are suited to production of the product covered by the protected designation of origin in question.

The geographical area has not changed.

This amendment does not affect the single document.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

1.   Name(s)

Saint-Mont

2.   Type of geographical indication

PDO – Protected designation of origin

3.   Categories of grapevine products

1.

Wine

3.1.   Combined Nomenclature code

—	22 – BEVERAGES, SPIRITS AND VINEGAR 2204 – Wine of fresh grapes, including fortified wines; grape must other than that of heading 2009

4.   Description of the wine(s)

1.   Red wines

BRIEF WRITTEN DESCRIPTION

The red wines have an intense colour. On the palate the taste is usually characterised by a good aromatic concentration, often revealing notes of red and black fruit. The tannin structure gives these wines a good storage potential, allowing them to acquire complex aromas of candied fruit and spices, often combined with woody tones from ageing in barrels.

The red wines have a minimum natural alcoholic strength by volume of 12 %.

Each batch of wine ready to be marketed, in bulk or packaged form, has:

—	a total alcoholic strength not exceeding 13,5 % after enrichment in the case of red wines;

—	in the case of red wines, a malic acid content not exceeding 0,4 grams per litre;

—	a fermentable sugar content (glucose and fructose) less than or equal to: — 3 grams per litre for red wines with a natural alcoholic strength by volume of less than or equal to 14 %; — 4 grams per litre for red wines with a natural alcoholic strength by volume exceeding 14 %.

The total acidity, volatile acidity and total sulphur dioxide content are as laid down in EU legislation.

General analytical characteristics

—	Maximum total alcoholic strength (in % volume): –

—	Minimum actual alcoholic strength (in % volume): 12

—	Minimum total acidity: –

—	Maximum volatile acidity (in milliequivalents per litre): –

—	Maximum total sulphur dioxide (in milligrams per litre): –

2.   White wines and rosé wines

BRIEF WRITTEN DESCRIPTION

The rosé wines have a colour that is sometimes intense and the nose is usually characterised by notes of red fruit. On the palate their lively aftertaste makes the wines harmonious and gives them a good balance between richness and acidity. The white wines are very aromatic, rich and balanced thanks to the presence of the Gros Manseng B variety.

White and rosé wines have a minimum natural alcoholic strength by volume of 11,50 %.

Each batch of wine ready to be marketed, in bulk or packaged form, has:

—	a total alcoholic strength not exceeding 12,5 % after enrichment in the case of white and rosé wines;

—	a fermentable sugar content (glucose and fructose) less than or equal to 4 grams per litre for white and rosé wines.

The total acidity, volatile acidity and total sulphur dioxide content are as laid down in EU legislation.

General analytical characteristics

—	Maximum total alcoholic strength (in % volume): –

—	Minimum actual alcoholic strength (in % volume): 11,5

—	Minimum total acidity: –

—	Maximum volatile acidity (in milliequivalents per litre): –

—	Maximum total sulphur dioxide (in milligrams per litre): –

5.   Winemaking practices

5.1.   Essential oenological practices

1.

Essential oenological practice — The rosé wines are made by direct pressing. — The use of oenological charcoal is permitted for musts in the production of rosé wines, in a proportion not exceeding 20 % of the volume of rosé wine produced by the winemaker concerned for the harvest in question. — Subtractive enrichment techniques are permitted for red wines, with the maximum partial concentration rate set at 10 % in relation to the volumes used. — After enrichment, the wines’ total alcoholic strength by volume must not exceed 13,5 % for the reds and 12,5 % for the whites and rosés. Besides the above provisions, the oenological practices adopted for the wines must comply with the obligations laid down in EU legislation and in the Rural and Fisheries Code.

2.

Cultivation method — Planting density The minimum planting density of the vines is 4 000 plants per hectare. The distance between the rows is 2,50 metres or less, and the spacing between plants in the same row is between 0,80 and 1,10 metres. These provisions do not apply to vines planted on terraces. For vines planted on terraces, the distance between vines in the same row is between 0,9 metres and 1,1 metres. — Pruning rules The vines are pruned by either single or double Guyot pruning or by short pruning (trained using the cordon de Royat method), with a maximum per vine of: — 12 count buds for the Tannat N variety; — 18 count buds for the Petit Courbu B and Petit Manseng B varieties; — 16 buds for the other varieties. Whichever pruning technique is used, the number of fruit-bearing branches per vine, at the ‘véraison’ [onset of ripening] stage, must not exceed: — 10 for the Tannat N variety; — 16 for the Petit Courbu B and Petit Manseng B varieties; — 12 for the other varieties. — Irrigation may be authorised. — the Tannat N variety and the varieties intended for the production of red wines are harvested manually.

5.2.   Maximum yields

1.

Red wines 63 hectolitres per hectare

2.

Rosé wines 68 hectolitres per hectare

3.

White wines 69 hectolitres per hectare

6.   Demarcated geographical area

Geographical area:

The grapes are harvested and the wines are made, developed and aged in the geographical area, which, on the date of approval of this specification by the competent national committee, comprises the territory, fully or partially, of the following municipalities on the basis of the 2024 Official Geographic Code:

Municipalities whose entire territory falls within the geographical area: Aignan, Arblade-le-Bas, Armous et Cau, Aurensan, Beaumarchès, Bernède, Bouzon-Gellenave, Castelnavet, Caumont, Corneillan, Couloumé-Mondebat, Courties, Fusterouau, Gazax et Baccarisse, Ju-Belloc, Labarthète, Ladevèze-Ville, Ladevèze-Rivière, Lannux, Lasserrade, Lelin-Lapujolle, Louslitges, Loussous-Débat, Lupiac, Margouët-Meymes, Maulichères, Peyrusse-Grande, Peyrusse-Vieille, Plaisance, Pouydraguin, Projan, Riscle (former municipality of Riscle), Sabazan, Saint-Aunix-Lengros, Saint-Mont, Saint-Pierre-d’Aubézies, Sarragachies, Tasque, Termes-d’Armagnac, Tieste-Uragnoux, Tourdun and Verlus. Municipalities part of whose territory falls within the geographical area: Averon-Bergelle, Dému, Marciac and Seailles.

7.   Wine grape variety(ies)

Arrufiac B - Arrufiat

Cabernet Franc N

Cabernet Sauvignon N

Courbu B - Gros Courbu

Fer N - Fer Servadou, Braucol, Mansois, Pinenc

Gros Manseng B

Manseng Noir N

Merlot N

Petit Courbu B

Petit Manseng B

Tannat N

Tardif N

8.   Description of the link(s)

The geographical area is equidistant – around 100 kilometres – from the Pyrenees to the south and from the Atlantic Ocean to the west. It extends over a hilly area on both sides of the valleys of the river Adour and one of its tributaries, the Arros.

The vine plantations are spread over slopes at the heart of an agricultural region devoted to mixed cultivation and livestock farming, where the cultivation of maize has an important role.

It covers the territory of 46 municipalities.

Temperatures are generally mild and fairly homogeneous throughout the geographical area. There is a strong rainfall gradient from west to east, from 1 000 millimetres per year to 800 millimetres per year.

The summer and early autumn are hot and often dry, particularly as a result of the southerly ‘foehn’ wind, which blows frequently during this period.

The geological substrate is varied. To the west it is mainly composed of ‘Sables Fauves’ [tawny sands], a marine formation from the Tertiary period, the southern boundary of which coincides with the border of the geographical area. These are topped by ancient alluvial sheets, where pebbles emerge and form colluvium on the slopes.

Further east the ‘Sables Fauves’ disappear and are replaced by molasse, with calcareous beds an obvious feature of the landscape.

The soils that have developed on this substrate are:

—	either clay-limestone soils that have developed on the molasse;

—	or leached acid soils that have developed on ‘Sables Fauves’ and pebbly colluvium.

These soils have a low mineral-element content.

Excess water is drained away by the slopes, and in the western part of the area by the sandy and stony nature of the soil.

The complex structure of the terrain, following the main Adour and Arros valleys, often arranged along tectonic lines, and then split into secondary ridges, forms a patchwork of locations oriented in various directions.

The morphology of the valleys is clearly asymmetrical. The west-facing slope is often steep, unlike the east-facing side, which slopes gently.

In addition to the red and ‘clairet’ wines produced in a large area of the Adour basin and intended for the inhabitants of the Pyrenean mountains, white wines have been produced in the west of the geographical area since the end of the Middle Ages and exported to northern Europe since the 17th century.

The successive arrival of powdery mildew, downy mildew and phylloxera, as well as the high demand for wine for distillation into Armagnac, resulted in a significant reduction in the areas of vines intended for the production of quality wines, which lost ground to ‘Piquepoules’, low vines used for the production of wines for distillation.

Finally, the mechanisation of agriculture in the middle of the 20th century led to an expansion of areas under maize and exacerbated the decline in wine-growing areas.

The first association to defend ‘Saint-Mont’ wines was set up in 1957. It initiated the renewal, in 1970, of vineyards based on local vine varieties such as the red Tannat N, Cabernet Franc N, Cabernet Sauvignon N and Fer N and the white Arrufiac B, Courbu B, Gros Manseng B and Petit Manseng B varieties.

The ‘Saint-Mont’ protected designation of origin was recognised in 2011.

The red wines have an intense colour. On the palate the taste is usually characterised by a good aromatic concentration revealing notes of red and black fruit. The tannin structure gives these wines a good storage potential, allowing them to acquire complex aromas of candied fruit and spices, often combined with woody tones from ageing in barrels.

The rosé wines have a colour that is sometimes intense and the nose is usually characterised by notes of red fruit. On the palate their lively aftertaste makes the wines harmonious and gives them a good balance between richness and acidity.

The white wines are very aromatic, rich and balanced thanks to the presence of the Gros Manseng B variety.

The vineyards are located on the most favourable plots, grouped into islands of cultivation spread over well-oriented slopes with low mineral content and well-drained soils.

The geographical area is in the Adour river basin, with the stock of vines dominated by the Tannat N variety and the Gros Manseng B and Petit Manseng B varieties, which are particularly suited to the rather damp climate of the geographical area and to the deep soils. However, their position at a crossroads between several wine-growing regions has enriched the vineyards with inputs from the surrounding regions, specifically in relation to their plant heritage, thanks to the Garonne river basin trio of Cabernet Franc N, Cabernet Sauvignon N and Merlot N, the establishment of which is also facilitated by the oceanic climate.

The practices implemented by producers have led to the compulsory manual harvesting of varieties intended for the production of red wines.

A period of post-fermentation ageing in the tank was introduced to produce a red wine with complex aromas, and above all to ensure that the tannins become round and silky. This means that the wines are aged until at least 1 March in the year following the harvest.

9.   Essential further conditions (bottling, labelling, other requirements)

Legal framework:

National legislation

Type of further condition:

Additional provisions relating to labelling

Description of the condition:

The Saint-Mont PDO may be supplemented with the name of the larger geographical unit, ‘Sud-Ouest’ [South-West], in line with the provisions of the specification.

Link to the product specification

https://info.agriculture.gouv.fr/boagri/document_administratif-8564051e-3037-488d-8a6f-a5c55a999fe1

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(1)   OJ L 9, 11.1.2019, p. 2.