Cairanne named new cru

Cairanne has been formally promoted to a Côtes du Rhône cru appellation with the confirmation due to be decreed soon.

The Institut National des Appellations d’Origine (INAO) recognised Cairanne as the Rhône’s newest cru last week, raising it from the ranks of the region’s ’Côtes du Rhône villages’ appellation after a process that began in 2008.

“For us, promotion to Cru status is an acknowledgement of the huge improvements we have made to the quality of both our white and red wines,” said Denis Alary, president of the Syndicat des Vignerons de Cairanne.

Speaking to the drinks business at Vinisud, Alary explained that those improvements would be safeguarded by the relatively stringent winemaking guidelines the producers had agreed upon including all manual harvesting and very low sulphur levels.

Reds will be made from Grenache (which covers 60% of the AOC surface area), Syrah, Carignan and Mourvèdre. The region also enjoys a high proportion of old vines, 400 hectares of the 956ha planted are over 50 years-old.

Cairanne also produces more white wines than most other Côtes du Rhône crus, with an average of 5% of production given over to white wines as opposed to the usual 3%.

Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Roussanne, Marsanne, Bourboulenc and Viognier are all permitted.