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

(2022/C 246/08)

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

COMMUNICATION OF A STANDARD AMENDMENT TO THE SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘Jasnières’

PDO-FR-A0393-AM01

Date of communication: 1 April 2022

DESCRIPTION OF AND REASONS FOR THE APPROVED AMENDMENT

1. Official Geographic Code

The municipalities making up the geographical area and the area in immediate proximity have been updated in line with the Official Geographic Code.

The boundaries of the area remain unchanged.

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

2. Demarcated parcel area

The date of the written consultation completed on 15 December 2021 has been added to the list of meetings of the relevant national committee that approved the demarcated parcel areas.

The purpose of this amendment is to add the date on which the relevant national authority approved changes to 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 suitable for producing the product covered by the protected designation of origin.

The single document is not affected by these amendments.

3. Circulation between authorised warehouses

Point IX(5)(b) of Chapter 1 concerning the date from which the wines may be circulated between authorised warehouses has been deleted.

This amendment does not require any changes to the single document.

4. 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 a purely editorial amendment.

This amendment does not require any changes to the single document.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

1. Name(s)

Jasnières

2. Geographical indication type

PDO – Protected designation of origin

3. Categories of grapevine product

1. Wine

4. Description of the wine(s)

BRIEF WRITTEN DESCRIPTION

The wines are still and white. The dry wines have a minimum natural alcoholic strength by volume of 10 %. The wines have a fermentable sugar content (glucose + fructose) of more than 12 g/l and thus have a minimum natural alcoholic strength by volume of 12,5 %.

After packaging, the wines meet the following analytical standards: The dry wines have a fermentable sugar content (glucose and fructose) not exceeding 8 grams per litre. The total acidity expressed in grams of tartaric acid per litre is not more than 2 grams per litre less than the fermentable sugar content. The volatile acidity is less than or equal to:

— 12,2 milliequivalents per litre until 31 December of the year following the year of harvest;

— 15,3 milliequivalents per litre until 31 December of the following year.

After enrichment, the wines’ total alcoholic strength by volume must not exceed 12,5 %.

The total acid and total sulphur dioxide content are as laid down by EU legislation. The dry wines generally have fruity and floral aromas when young. The fresh sensation continues to the wines’ finish. Ageing expresses their potential and allows smooth notes to develop, such as honey or wilted rose. Where they contain fermentable sugars, the wines are generally more complex and have greater ageing potential.

More exuberant notes of exotic fruit or softer notes of dried fruit frequently appear, quite often accompanied by notes of roasted almonds or quince as the wine ages.

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

5. Wine-making practices

5.1. Specific oenological practices

1. Specific oenological practice

All enrichment practices are prohibited for wines with a fermentable sugar content (glucose + fructose) of more than 12 grams per litre. After enrichment, the wines’ total alcoholic strength by volume must not exceed 12,5 %. The wine-making practices followed must comply with EU rules and the Rural and Maritime Fishing Code as well as with the above provisions.

2. Cultivation method

a) Planting density: The minimum planting density of the vines is 5 500 plants per hectare, with a maximum distance of 1,80 metres between rows. The spacing between plants in the same row is no more than 1 metre.

b) Pruning rules: The vines are pruned using the spur pruning method, each having a maximum of 3 buds. The total number of buds per plant may not exceed 13.

5.2. Maximum yields

1. 63 hectolitres per hectare

6. Demarcated geographical area

The grapes are harvested and the wines are produced, developed and aged in the following municipalities in the department of Sarthe (list established on the basis of the 2021 Official Geographic Code): Lhomme and Loir en Vallée (territory of the delegated municipality of Ruillé-sur-Loir).

7. Wine grape variety(-ies)

Chenin B

8. Description of the link(s)

Description of the natural factors relevant to the link

Situated in the heart of the Loir valley, the geographical area of the Jasnières controlled designation of origin corresponds to a steeply sloping, south-facing hillside connecting the municipalities of Ruillé-sur-Loir and Lhomme and stretching approximately 5 kilometres along the right side of the valley. The name ‘Jasnières’ is the name of an iconic place and subsequently came to refer to the whole hillside and the wines originating from it. The hillside, which is approximately 300 metres wide, is intersected by three small valleys, strongly characterising the landscape. The parcels demarcated for the grape harvest are located on the steepest part of this hillside, where the slopes have a gradient of 15 % and an altitude of between 70 and 120 metres, and they cover around 50 hectares. Here, as a result of erosion that has laid bare the substrate, the soils are shallow, stony and heat up quickly. They have mainly formed on the Turonian tuffeau formations and the Senonian clay and flint. In places, they may come from Eocene detrital formations or contain elements from the alluvial terraces of the River Loir.

The climate is semi-maritime, at the confluence between maritime and continental influences. The River Loir plays a role in regulating the temperature, as do the valleys that draw the cold air away from the hillside. The area receives approximately 680 millimetres of rainfall each year.

Description of the human factors relevant to the link

According to oral tradition, the establishment of the Saint-Lézin monastery, in Marçon, in the Middle Ages led to the development of vine growing in the Loir valley. Wine growers quickly identified the particular hillside of Jasnières at the heart of this valley, where the Chenin B variety, grown in the extreme north of the cultivated area, produces original wines. The large number of cellars carved into the rock and used for making wine have been a factor promoting the production and storage of Jasnières wines. The white wines of the Loir area were regularly mentioned in 16th century texts. In Pantagruel, Rabelais wrote that the municipality of La Chartre, which is situated in the heart of the Loir valley and right at the foot of the Jasnières hillside, was full of wine merchants. Ronsard sang of the wines of the Loir, while Henry IV discovered the wines of Jasnières as he rode between La Flèche and Vendôme, and asked that they be served at the royal palace of Saint-Germain en-Laye. From then on and until the end of the 19th century, Dutch traders travelling up the Loire and its tributaries purchased white wines from the Loir and from Jasnières and transported them to the countries of northern Europe, where the white wines produced from the Chenin B variety in the Loire Valley were particularly appreciated. The Loir played an important role as, thanks to its link to the Loire, it allowed the foodstuffs and wines produced in Sarthe to be exported.

In his Etude des vignobles de France [Study of French vineyards] in 1876, Jules Guyot wrote that the climate of Sarthe belonged to that part of the temperate zone where sweet fruits achieve maximum finesse, grapes are delicious and wines are outstanding. During the 19th century, the white wines of Jasnières gained a high profile among a wider public, particularly the 1837, 1870 and 1893 vintages, which made a lasting impression. The great gastronomy critic of the early 20th century Curnonsky, known as the Prince of Gastronomy, said at that time that ‘Three times a century, Jasnières is the greatest white wine in the world’.

In 1937, the ‘Jasnières’ controlled designation of origin was one of the first to be recognised for the various wine categories.

In 2009, the vineyards of the ‘Jasnières’ controlled designation of origin covered more than 50 ha, cultivated by around 25 wine growers with a production of almost 2 500 hl. The dry wines generally have fruity and floral aromas when young.

The fresh sensation continues to the wines’ finish. Ageing expresses their potential and allows smooth notes to develop, such as honey or wilted rose.

Where they contain fermentable sugars, the wines are generally more complex and have greater ageing potential. More exuberant notes of exotic fruit or softer notes of dried fruit frequently appear, quite often accompanied by notes of roasted almonds or quince as the wine ages. The ‘Jasnières’ geographical area is situated on the outer edge of the climate zone in which the Chenin B variety (the noble grape variety of the Loire Valley, but also a late variety) is able to grow. This fully south-facing hillside enjoys beneficial natural conditions that give the wines an extraordinary original aromatic expression and balance.

This original expression of the wines requires growers to expertly manage the vigour and fruiting potential of the plants by means of strict vine training and spur pruning.

The well-established parcel area where the grapes are harvested includes only parcels which have soils with good hydrological and thermal properties.

The ‘vintage effect’, which is particularly pronounced on these vineyards, has long allowed wine growers to take advantage of the various states of ripeness of the grapes. Thus, depending on where the vines are planted and the climate conditions of the vintage, the grapes harvested will have a greater or lesser natural sugar content and give rise to different types of wine. When climate conditions during the harvest season are particularly favourable, grapes that are concentrated through drying on the vine or through the action of ‘noble rot’ before the harvest give rise to wines with a high sugar content which can then be kept for several decades. The large cellars carved into the tuffeau allow the wines to be appropriately aged in order to express their aromatic characteristics; this has been made mandatory in the product specification.

The wines of Jasnières were mentioned by kings and scholars from as early as the 16th century and became known to the general public in the second half of the 19th century. Today, they still have a special place in the production of northern Loire white wines.

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

Legal framework:

National legislation

Type of further condition:

Derogation concerning production in the demarcated geographical area

Description of the condition:

The area in immediate proximity for the vinification, processing and ageing of the wines comprises the territory of the following municipalities (list established on the basis of the 2021 Official Geographic Code):

Department of Indre-et-Loire: Bueil-en-Touraine, Épeigné-sur-Dême, Saint-Aubin-le-Dépeint, Saint-Christophe-sur-le-Nais, Saint-Paterne-Racan and Villebourg.

Department of Loir-et-Cher: Montoire-sur-le-Loir.

Department of Sarthe: Beaumont-sur-Dême, Chahaignes, La Chartre-sur-le-Loir, Chenu, Dissay-sous-Courcillon, Flée, Loir en Vallée (territory of the delegated municipality of Poncé-sur-le-Loir), Marçon, Montval-sur-Loir, Nogent-sur-Loir, Saint-Germain-d’Arcé, Saint-Pierre-de-Chevillé and Vancé.

Legal framework:

National legislation

Type of further condition:

Additional provisions relating to labelling

Description of the condition:

a) All optional terms, the use of which, 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 forming the name of the controlled designation of origin.

b) The size of the letters of the geographical name ‘Val de Loire’ may not be larger, either in height or width, than two-thirds of the size of the letters forming the name of the controlled designation of origin.

c) The term ‘sec’ [dry] must feature on the labelling of wines with a fermentable sugar content (glucose + fructose) of not more than 8 grams per litre.

d) Wines with the controlled designation of origin may specify on their labels the name of a smaller geographical unit, provided that: — it is a place name listed in the land registry; — it appears on the harvest declaration.

Link to the product specification

http://info.agriculture.gouv.fr/gedei/site/bo-agri/document_administratif-e4328415-66c5-43e9-917a-85b9aca21caa

(1) OJ L 9, 11.1.2019, p. 2.