History
In 1531, Benedictine monks in the Abbaye de Saint-Hilaire (a neighbouring commune of Limoux) noticed that bubbles had appeared in fermenting wine. [5]
| Sieur d'Arques | |
| Headquarters | , France |
Key people | Maurice Lautard, président Laurent Lechat, directeur général |
| Website | www |
Sieur d'Arques is a wine producer cooperative located in Limoux in the Languedoc-Roussillon area of France. [2] [3] It produces the Red Bicyclette brand of wine, marketed in the United States by E & J Gallo Winery.
In 2012, Pierre Mirc retired as chairman of Sieur d'Arques. [4] Current executives include Maurice Lautard, chairman; Laurent Lechat, general manager; Guilhem Marty, technical director. [1]
In 1531, Benedictine monks in the Abbaye de Saint-Hilaire (a neighbouring commune of Limoux) noticed that bubbles had appeared in fermenting wine. [5]
Sieur d'Arques were prosecuted in 2010 for passing off wines blended from other grape varieties as pinot noir in order to charge higher prices to E. & J. Gallo, for whom this was their most popular variety. The amount of imitation pinot noir sold in this way exceeded the production of the Languedoc region and this scandal was said to have damaged the region's reputation. The defendants were convicted. Jail sentences were given but suspended and fines of up to €180,000 were levied. [6] [7] [8] [9]
Sieur d'Arques sponsors the annual Toques et Clochers gastronomy festival in Aude. [10]
Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new and developing wine regions, growing Chardonnay is seen as a 'rite of passage' and an easy entry into the international wine market.
Aude is a department in Southern France, located in the Occitanie region and named after the river Aude. The departmental council also calls it "Cathar Country" after a group of religious dissidents active in the 12th to 14th centuries.
Limoux is a commune and subprefecture in the Aude department, a part of the ancient Languedoc province and the present-day Occitanie region in southern France. Its vineyards are famous for being first to produce sparkling wine known as Blanquette de Limoux.
Bugey wine is produced in the Bugey region in the Ain département of France, under the two VDQS designations Bugey and Roussette du Bugey. On May 28, 2009, INAO gave its final approval for the elevation of Bugey and Roussette du Bugey to Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) status.
Jura wine is French wine produced in the Jura département. Located between Burgundy and Switzerland, this cool climate wine region produces wines with some similarity to Burgundy and Swiss wine. Jura wines are distinctive and unusual wines, the most famous being vin jaune, which is made by a similar process to Sherry, developing under a flor-like strain of yeast. This is made from the local Savagnin grape variety. Other grape varieties include Poulsard, Trousseau, and Chardonnay. Other wine styles found in Jura includes a vin de paille made from Chardonnay, Poulsard and Savagnin, a sparkling Crémant du Jura made from slightly unripe Chardonnay grapes, and a vin de liqueur known as Macvin du Jura made by adding marc to halt fermentation. The renowned French chemist and biologist Louis Pasteur was born and raised in the Jura region and owned a vineyard near Arbois.
Clairette blanche is a white wine grape variety most widely grown in the wine regions of Provence, Rhône and Languedoc in France. At the end of the 1990s, there were 3,000 hectares of Clairette blanche grown in France, although volumes are decreasing.
French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and American wine-producing regions. French wine traces its history to the 6th century BCE, with many of France's regions dating their wine-making history to Roman times. The wines produced range from expensive wines sold internationally to modest wines usually only seen within France such as the Margnat wines of the post war period.
Red Bicyclette is a French wine produced by the Sieur d'Arques cooperative and distributed in the United States by the E. & J. Gallo Winery. Its distinctive label appeals to consumers who prefer branded wines, labelled with the variety of grape from which they are made, rather than by the exact location. The following grape varieties are sold under the Red Bicyclette label: chardonnay, merlot, pinot noir, rosé and syrah.
Languedoc-Roussillon wine, including the vin de pays labeled Vin de Pays d'Oc, is produced in southern France. While "Languedoc" can refer to a specific historic region of France and Northern Catalonia, usage since the 20th century has primarily referred to the northern part of the Languedoc-Roussillon région of France, an area which spans the Mediterranean coastline from the French border with Spain to the region of Provence. The area has around 700,000 acres (2,800 km2) under vines and is the single biggest wine-producing region in the world, being responsible for more than a third of France's total wine production. In 2001, the region produced more wine than the United States.
Côtes de Toul is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) for French wine produced in the département of Meurthe-et-Moselle in the Lorraine région. The Côtes de Toul vineyards cover 110 hectares in an area close to Toul, to the west of the city of Nancy. The area of production includes the following communes: Blénod-lès-Toul, Bruley, Bulligny, Charmes-la-Côte, Domgermain, Lucey, Mont-le-Vignoble and Pagney-derrière-Barine. Annual production is 4,500 hectoliter, corresponding to 600,000 bottles.
Mondeuse noire is a red French wine grape variety that is grown primarily in the Savoy region of eastern France. The grape can also be found in Argentina, Australia, California, Switzerland and Sicily. Plantings of Mondeuse noire was hit hard during the phylloxera epidemic of the mid to late 19th century which nearly wiped out the vine from eastern France. While the grape recovered slightly in the 20th century, French plantations of Mondeuse noire fell sharply in the 1970s, with just over 200 hectares left in France in 2000. In the early 21st century, it seems the variety has increased somewhat in popularity, as it can give good wines if the planting site is chosen carefully.
Limoux wine is produced around the city of Limoux in Languedoc in southwestern France. Limoux wine is produced under four Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) designations: Blanquette de Limoux, Blanquette méthode ancestrale, Crémant de Limoux and Limoux, the first three of which are sparkling wines and dominate the production around Limoux. The main grape of the region is the Mauzac, locally known as Blanquette, followed by Chardonnay and Chenin blanc. In 2005, the Limoux AOC was created to include red wine production consisting of mostly Merlot. Wine historians believe that the world's first sparkling wine was produced in this region in 1531, by the monks at the abbey in Saint-Hilaire.
South West France, or in French Sud-Ouest, is a wine region in France covering several wine-producing areas situated respectively inland from, and south of, the wine region of Bordeaux. These areas, which have a total of 16,000 hectares of vineyards, consist of several discontinuous wine "islands" throughout the Aquitaine region, and more or less to the west of the Midi-Pyrénées region.
Belgian wine is produced in several parts of Belgium and production, although still modest at 1,400 hectoliters in 2004, has expanded in recent decades.
The Pinot noir passing-off controversy arose in 2010 within the wine industry over the passing-off by French distributors of Merlot and Syrah wine as Pinot noir in the United States. The controversy involved the mislabeling of wines from vintners in southern France which were falsely sold to American distributors E & J Gallo Winery as Pinot noir. The mislabeling resulted in a French court convicting twelve people for fraud.
Terret is an ancient Vitis vinifera vine that, like the parent Pinot vine of Pinot noir's history, mutated over the course of thousands of years into grape varieties of several color. Originating in the Languedoc-Roussillon wine of southern France, the descendants of Terret now include the red wine variety Terret noir, the white Terret blanc and the light-skinned Terret gris.
Mauzac noir is a red French wine grape variety that is grown in Southwest France. Despite the similarities in name, Mauzac noir is not a color mutation of the white Limoux wine grape Mauzac that is an important component in the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) sparkling wine Blanquette de Limoux. Today Mauzac noir is nearly extinct but at least one grower in the Gaillac AOC is attempting to revive the variety and make varietal examples of the grape.
The Carnival of Limoux is an annual festival held in Limoux, Languedoc-Roussillon, France. It takes place for three months on the weekends between January and Mardi Gras and is conducted in Occitan, the area's traditional language.
Toques et Clochers is an annual two-day charitable gastronomy festival in Aude, France dedicated to the celebration of Chardonnay production in the Limoux wine appellation, sponsored by the Sieur d'Arques wine cooperative.
Domaine de Baronarques is a vineyard and winery located in Saint-Polycarpe, in the Aude department of the Languedoc-Roussillon region. It is part of the AOC Limoux. It was purchased by Baroness Philippine de Rothschild and her two sons, Philippe Sereys de Rothschild and Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild in December 1998 and has been extensively renovated on a five-year project. Producing their first vintage in 2003.