Publication of a communication of approval of a standard amendment to a product specification for a name in the wine sector, as referred to in Article 17(2) and (3) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33

(2023/C 51/06)

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

COMMUNICATION OF APPROVAL OF A STANDARD AMENDMENT

‘Savennières’

PDO-FR-A0158-AM02

Date of communication: 14.11.2022

DESCRIPTION OF AND REASONS FOR THE APPROVED AMENDMENT

1.   Official geographical code

The communes making up the geographical area and the area in immediate proximity have been updated in line with the official geographical code.

The demarcated geographical area itself remains unchanged.

Points 6 and 9 of the single document have been amended.

2.   Distance between vines

The minimum distance between vines has been reduced from 1 m to 0,90 m.

This enables planting density to be increased without changing the distance between rows.

A special provision has also been added for vines located on slopes where the gradient is greater than 10 %, where the authorised minimum distance between vines is 0,80 m.

This is to take account of the particular case of vines grown on steep slopes, where planting has to be done differently (planting parallel to the slope rather than perpendicular to it).

Point 5 of the single document has been amended.

3.   Pruning

The pruning rules for the designations of the Anjou Saumur area in the Loire Valley have been harmonised.

This is to improve operators’ knowledge and simplify checks. This amendment allows winegrowers to adapt to increasingly late frosts.

Point 5 of the single document has been amended.

4.   Harvesting

It is stipulated that the grapes must be harvested by hand.

Point 5 of the single document has been amended.

5.   Labelling

The regulatory framework governing the optional terms has been clarified.

Point 9 of the single document has been amended.

6.   Transitional measures

Transitional measures no longer in force have been deleted.

These amendments do not require any amendments to the single document.

7.   Editorial changes

A certain number of editorial changes have been made to the specification.

These changes do not require any changes to the single document.

8.   Reference to the inspection body

The reference to the inspection body has been reworded to align it with the wording used in other product specifications. This is merely an editorial change.

This change does not require any change to the single document.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

1.   Name(s)

Savennières

2.   Type of geographical indication

PDO – Protected designation of origin

3.   Categories of grapevine product

1.

Wine

4.   Description of the wine(s)

1.   Product characteristics

BRIEF WRITTEN DESCRIPTION

The wines are still, dry, medium-dry, semi-sweet or sweet white wines with the following main analytical characteristics: — The dry wines have a minimum natural alcoholic strength of 11,5 % by volume. — The other wines have a minimum natural alcoholic strength of 12,5 % by volume. — After fermentation, the dry wines have a fermentable sugar content (glucose + fructose) of not more than 4 g per litre, or 8 g per litre where the total acidity expressed as grams of tartaric acid per litre is not more than 2 g per litre below the fermentable sugar content. — After enrichment, the total alcoholic strength by volume of the dry wines should not exceed 13 %. The volatile acidity, total acidity and total sulphur dioxide content are those laid down by EU legislation.

General analytical characteristics
Maximum total alcoholic strength (in % volume)
Minimum actual alcoholic strength (in % volume)	11
Minimum total acidity
Maximum volatile acidity (in milliequivalents per litre)
Maximum total sulphur dioxide (in milligrams per litre)

2.   Description

BRIEF WRITTEN DESCRIPTION

The wines are white and usually dry, though they may sometimes contain fermentable sugars. Their colour ranges from pale to golden yellow. The nose generally features aromatic floral scents or notes (acacia, limeflower, etc.) together with fruity notes reminiscent of pear, peach, quince, toasted almond, raisins or honey, all complemented by a slight mineral flavour. The attack on the palate is full and thick, revealing the wine’s full aromatic complexity. The finish is a mixture of freshness, a mineral flavour and a touch of bitterness, bringing harmony and balance to the wine. These wines reach their full potential after several years in the bottle. The wines containing fermentable sugars have excellent ageing capacity.

5.   Winemaking practices

5.1.   Specific oenological practices

1.   

 

Specific oenological practice

The use of wood chips is forbidden; after enrichment the dry wines should not have a total alcoholic strength by volume of more than 13 %. For the other wines, all enrichment is banned. In addition to the above provisions, all winemaking practices followed must also comply with the requirements laid down at EU level and in the Rural and Maritime Fishing Code.

The wines must be matured until at least 15 March of the year following the year of harvest.

2.   Planting density – Spacing

Cultivation method

Minimum planting density is 4 000 vines per hectare. Rows of vines may not be spaced more than 2,50 m apart. The vines making up a row must be spaced at least 0,90 m apart. Vineyard parcels where the distance between vines in the same row is less than 0,90 m but at least 0,80 m, and where the gradient is greater than 10 %, are entitled to use the registered designation of origin for their harvest. The registered designation of origin may be used for the harvest from vineyard parcels with a density of fewer than 4 000 – but at least 3 300 – vines per hectare, subject to compliance with certain vine-training and foliage height rules laid down in the product specification. On such parcels, the rows may not be spaced more than 3 m apart, and the vines making up a row must be spaced at least 1 m apart.

3.   Vine pruning and training

Cultivation method

The vines are pruned (spur pruning, cane pruning or mixed pruning) down to no more than 12 count buds per vine.

They may have two additional count buds per vine, on condition that, at the phenological stage corresponding to 11 or 12 leaves (separate flower buds), the number of fruit-bearing branches for the year per vine is no more than 12.

The foliage on the trellis must reach a height of at least 0,6 times the distance between the rows. This height is measured as the distance between the lower limit of the foliage (which must be at least 0,40 m above ground level) and the upper trimming limit (which must be at least 0,20 m above the upper trellis wire).

Vineyard parcels with a planting density of fewer than 4 000 – but at least 3 300 – vines per hectare are also subject to the following trellising rules: the trellis poles must reach at least 1,90 m above ground level, there must be four horizontal wires, and the top wire must be at least 1,85 m above ground level.

4.   Irrigation

Cultivation method

Irrigation is not permitted.

5.   Harvesting

Cultivation method

The grapes are selectively hand-picked bunch by bunch from the vine. The use of grape harvesting machines is prohibited.

5.2.   Maximum yields

1.	Dry and medium-dry wines 50 hectolitres per hectare

2.	Other wines 35 hectolitres per hectare

6.   Demarcated geographical area

All steps in production must take place in the geographical area comprising the territory of the following communes in the department of Maine-et-Loire, based on the 2021 official geographical code: Bouchemaine, La Possonnière and Savennières.

7.   Wine grape variety(ies)

Chenin B

8.   Description of the link(s)

8.1.   

 

(a)   Description of the natural factors relevant to the link

The geographical area is located on the right bank of the river Loire, around 15 km from the city of Angers. Its distinguishing feature is a range of south- and southeast-facing hills, varying from 500 m to 1 500 m in width and stretching for around 6 km along the Loire. In the north of the geographical area lies a large plateau, colder and exposed to the wind, which is mostly used for growing cereals and raising livestock.

The bedrock is composed of schist and schist-sandstone formations dating from the late Ordovician to the early Devonian periods, with localised seams of volcanic rock (rhyolite and spilite). At the edge of the plateau lie several Quaternary aeolian sand deposits, forming a layer of varying thickness. On the hills, the bedrock usually lies near the surface.

The geographical area stretches across the territory of three communes: Bouchemaine, La Possonnière and Savennières.

The climate is oceanic. In the Mauges area, which lies to the west of the vineyards, the oceanic characteristics are tempered by a foehn effect. The average annual rainfall is 650 mm, reflecting the area’s lack of exposure to humid winds, while on the hills of the Mauges it exceeds 800 mm. This discrepancy is even greater during the vine’s growth cycle, particularly from the month of June up until the harvesting period. The average yearly temperature is relatively high at around 12 °C. The river Loire plays a major role in regulating the temperature of the nearby hillsides, which are situated downwind of the prevailing winds, thus maintaining high temperatures at night. The Loire also plays a major role as its presence means that morning mists – essential for the development of noble rot – are a common occurrence at harvest time.

(b)   Description of the human factors relevant to the link

Vine-growing was initially confined to the lands near the large abbeys of Angers, but gradually spread throughout the surrounding area, and then to the hills of Pruniers and Bouchemaine in the 4th century. Towards 1130, the monks of the Abbaye Saint-Nicolas d’Angers planted a vineyard on a hill overlooking the Loire, thus giving La Roche aux Moines its name. In 1140, Benedictine nuns built a convent known as Le Prieuré in the town of La Possonière. At the time, the building was surrounded by a vast expanse of vineyards. From then onwards, ‘Savennières’ became a wine of choice for the nobility – notably so in the 15th century, at the table of ‘Good King René’ (René I of Anjou), who, after drinking a glass of wine from a plot of land to the east of the town while passing through the commune, dubbed it the goutte d’or (golden drop). Ever since, the plot of land in question has been known as Clos de la Goutte d’Or.

The main phase of the vineyards’ development took place in the 17th and 18th centuries. In Traité sur la nature et la culture de la vigne, published in 1749, Nicolas Bidet and Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau wrote: ‘The hills along the Loire, on both sides of the river, make up the different vineyards of Anjou; these hills are half or a quarter of a league’s distance from one another, and from Angers they extend for 7 or 8 leagues towards Brittany. They are nothing but rock, and were once completely barren, covered in scrub, brushwood and old trees, making them inaccessible, impenetrable, and a haven for wild beasts and venomous creatures. The land, which was very difficult to clear, has now been fully cultivated and planted with vines, up until the place where the hill begins to level out and turn northwards, stretching over a quarter of a league or half a league. The hills on the right bank of the Loire going down towards Nantes are south-facing, and thus the wine made there is better and stronger than that from the hills on the left…’ The hills and plots of land near the town of Savennières were covered with vines, and every rural dwelling had several strips of land planted with vines. The registers of grievances drawn up by the Estates General shortly before the French Revolution describe the situation of the hillside vineyards. ‘Savennières: population 2 460, 1/3 planted with vines of an excellent cru… I have never seen a parish more heavily taxed than Savennières’ wrote parish representative Monsieur Dertrou.

8.2.   

 

Substantial advancements in winemaking and plant health management in the 19th century led to a thorough transformation of the wine industry through the efforts of winery owners such as Pierre Guillory, who were keen to obtain high-quality wines and maintain the good reputation enjoyed by ‘Savennières’ wine. Many experiments were carried out; these included the use of different grape varieties (notably Madeiran Verdelho – according to Professor Maisonneuve, sixty vines were planted at the Coulée de Serrant vineyard) and experiments in terracing and trellising. Chenin B nevertheless remained the vineyards’ primary grape variety. Jules Guyot, during one of his visits there in 1865, wrote an excellent account of the methods used, including spur pruning, debudding, and harvesting when ‘many of the grapes are already overripe’.

The registered designation of origin ‘Savennières’ was recognised by decree on 8 December 1952. Initially, the decree primarily focused on wines containing fermentable sugars, but through the efforts of successive chairs of the ‘Savennières’syndicat de défense, including Michèle Bazin de Jessey, it was updated to cover dry wines, optionally also including wines containing fermentable sugars, which more accurately reflects vineyard practice and the environment’s distinctive features.

In 2009, there were 34 growers farming the vineyards.

2.   Information on the quality and characteristics of the product

The wines are white and usually dry, though they may sometimes contain fermentable sugars. Their colour ranges from pale to golden yellow.

The nose generally features aromatic floral scents or notes (acacia, limeflower, etc.) together with fruity notes reminiscent of pear, peach, quince, toasted almond, raisins or honey, all complemented by a slight mineral flavour.

The attack on the palate is full and thick, revealing the wine’s full aromatic complexity. The finish is a mixture of freshness, a mineral flavour and a touch of bitterness, bringing harmony and balance to the wine.

These wines reach their full potential after several years in the bottle. The wines containing fermentable sugars have excellent ageing capacity.

3.   Causal interactions

The area of land parcels demarcated for grape harvesting consists of south-facing parcels on sheltered hills, with very shallow soils overlaying the schist and schist-sandstone formations of the underlying bedrock, or shallow soils overlaying aeolian sands. These soils are highly gravelly and not very fertile, with good drainage capacity and poor water reserves.

Winemaking in these conditions requires optimal management of the vines and their production potential. This is achieved through careful vine training, strict pruning rules and selective harvesting of the grapes bunch by bunch, including for dry wines.

The growers’ expertise is evident in their continued preference for the Chenin B grape variety, a hardy variety which is able to fully realise its potential and its originality in this environment. They have adapted themselves to its particular qualities and its complexity by diversifying their production methods. The wines’ fermentable sugar content has traditionally varied depending on the planting location, vine management and the weather during the year of vintage. When weather conditions at the end of the harvest are good, thanks to the thermoregulating action of the Loire, the winds channelled by the river – which help the grapes to dry out – or the morning mists, semi-sweet or sweet wines can be produced from grapes that are harvested after being raisined on the vine or that are affected with noble rot (Botrytis cinerea).

The growers have also been swift to adapt their vinification techniques to include methods that enable them to bring out the best in the grapes. After fermentation, the wine is matured in vats for a while so as to allow it to develop complex aromas. To this end, the product specification stipulates that such maturing must last at least until 15 March of the year following that of the harvest.

The combination of such a singular natural environment, a grape variety perfectly adapted to it, and growers who know how to make full use of its potential, enables the production of unique, original wines of historical renown. André Jullien, in Topographie de tous les vignobles connus (1816), did not hesitate to class them among the best, thereby recognising their originality, quality and reputation.

The ‘Savennières’ vineyards, a symbol of la douceur angevine, were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001.

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

Area in immediate proximity

Legal framework

EU legislation

Type of further condition

Derogation concerning production in the demarcated geographical area

Description of the condition

The area in immediate proximity, in which vinification and the development and maturing of the wines can be performed by derogation, comprises the following communes in the department of Maine-et-Loire, based on the 2021 official geographical code: Angers, Beaulieu-sur-Layon, Bellevigne-en-Layon Blaison-Saint-Sulpice, Brissac Loire Aubance (the delegated communes of Les Alleuds, Brissac-Quincé, Charcé-Saint-Ellier-sur-Aubance, Luigné, Saint-Rémy-la-Varenne, Saint-Saturnin-sur-Loire, Saulgé-l’Hôpital and Vauchrétien only), Chalonnes-sur-Loire, Chaudefonds-sur-Layon, Chemillé-en-Anjou (the delegated communes of Chanzeaux and Valanjou only), Denée, Doué-en-Anjou (the delegated commune of Brigné only), Les Garennes sur Loire, Mauges-sur-Loire (the delegated commune of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Plaine only), Mozé-sur-Louet, Mûrs-Erigné, Rochefort-sur-Loire, Sainte-Gemmes-sur-Loire, Saint-Melaine-sur-Aubance, Soulaines-sur-Aubance, Terranjou and Val-du-Layon.

Labelling

Legal framework

National legislation

Type of further condition

Additional provisions relating to labelling

Description of the condition

Optional terms whose use, under EU rules, may be regulated by the Member States must be printed on the labels in letters that are no larger, in height or in width, than twice the size of the letters spelling the registered designation of origin.

The registered designation of origin may be supplemented by the geographical name ‘Val de Loire’ in accordance with the rules laid down in the product specification. The geographical name ‘Val de Loire’ must be printed in letters that are no larger, either in height or in width, than two thirds the size of the letters spelling the registered designation of origin.

In commercial documents and shipping documents and on labels, the wines must be described as ‘medium dry’, ‘semi-sweet’ or ‘sweet’ according to the fermentable sugar content (glucose and fructose), as defined by EU legislation. On labels, these terms must appear in the same visual field as the registered designation of origin.

The name of a smaller geographical unit may appear on the labels of wines covered by the registered designation of origin, provided that: — it is a registered location; — it appears on the harvest declaration. The name of the registered location must be printed in letters that are no larger, either in height or in width, than half the size of the letters spelling the registered designation of origin.

Link to the product specification

https://info.agriculture.gouv.fr/gedei/site/bo-agri/document_administratif-7cc8c3cc-9ee0-4faf-aca5-058e37d4206d

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(1)  OJ L 9, 11.1.2019, p. 2.