COMMUNICATION OF APPROVAL OF A STANDARD AMENDMENT

(Article 24 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1143)

‘Saint-Mont’

PDO-FR-A0711-AM03 – 23.7.2025

1.   Name of product

‘Saint-Mont’

2.   Geographical indication type

☒	Protected designation of origin (PDO)

☐	Protected geographical indication (PGI)

☐	Geographical indication (GI)

3.   Sector

☐	Agricultural products

☒

Wines

☐	Spirit drinks

4.   Country to which the geographical area belongs

France

5.   National authority communicating the standard amendment

Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries, Rural Affairs and Land Use Planning

6.   Qualification as standard amendment

The amendments to this product specification are standard amendments as defined in Article 24(4) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1143. The application for an amendment to the ‘Saint-Mont’ PDO does not involve any of the three situations constituting a Union amendment; specifically, it does not:

(a)	include a change in the name or in the use of the name, or in the category of product or products designated by the geographical indication;

(b)	risk voiding the link to the geographical area;

(c)	entail further restrictions on the marketing of the product.

The French authorities therefore consider that the application is for a standard amendment.

7.   Description of the approved standard amendment(s)

1.   Mechanical grape harvest

The designation’s producer group wishes to authorise mechanical harvesting. This request is justified by the proliferation of exceptional climate-related events. After the drought and hail episodes that took place in 2021 and 2022, mildew attacks on harvests in 2023 and 2024 once again severely compromised already weakened yields.

In addition to being quick, this method of harvesting can be carried out at night, making it possible to limit oxidation, to work at cooler temperatures and to alleviate labour recruitment problems during the harvest period. The advantages of mechanical harvesting have allowed the quality of the grapes to be preserved. The designation’s producer group would further point out that, from an environmental point of view, this method of harvesting favours cooler crops of grapes, which means less energy is required to cool the vats after reception of the grapes.

The following point of the single document has been amended: Specific oenological practices.

2.   Container-trailers equipped with vane pumps

The designation’s producer group wishes to delete this point from the specification because this equipment is no longer used by the sector. This type of equipment was used mainly in the 1980s and 1990s to transport the manual harvest. This check is no longer necessary.

The single document is not affected.

3.   References

The contact details of the National Institute of Origin and Quality (Institut national de la qualité et de l’origine: INAO) have been updated.

The arrangements for inspecting the product specification have been amended.

These amendments do 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)

4.1.   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): —

4.2.   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 whitSe and rosé wines;

—	a fermentable sugar content (glucose and fructose) less than or equal to 4 grams per litre for 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 count buds for 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 other varieties.

Irrigation may be authorised.

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 plays an important role.

It covers the territory of 46 municipalities.

Temperatures are 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 limestone beds an obvious feature of the landscape.

The soils that have developed on this substrate are:

—	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. These were exported to northern Europe from 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 a vineyard 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, and more particularly in relation to their plant heritage by 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.

A period of post-fermentation ageing in the tank was introduced to produce a 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-dd1b4854-8107-471e-8f13-73e1e9fd7de7

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(1)  Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/27 of 30 October 2024 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1143 of the European Parliament and of the Council with rules concerning the registration and the protection of geographical indications, traditional specialities guaranteed and optional quality terms and repealing Delegated Regulation (EU) No 664/2014 (OJ L, 2025/27, 15.1.2025, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2025/27/oj).