Lirac AOC

Wine region
Official name	Lirac AOC
Type	AOC
Year established	1945
Years of wine industry	2,000
Country	France
Part of	Rhône Valley
Other regions in Rhône Valley	Laudun AOC
Climate region	Mediterranean
Soil conditions	sandy, loess, quartzite pebbles
Size of planted vineyards	700
No. of vineyards	100
Grapes produced	Grenache blanc, Grenache noir, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, Carignan, Bourboulenc, Clairette, Ugni blanc, Picpoul, Marsanne, rousanne, viognier
No. of wineries	53
Wine produced	red, white, rosé
Comments	2005

Lirac is a wine-growing Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) in the department of Gard situated in the low hills along the left bank of the Rhône river in the southern Rhône wine region of France. It is named after the village of Lirac. Bordering on the neighbouring cru of Tavel AOC, a rosé-only cru in the next village, Lirac is one of the 13 crus of the Rhône valley family. On the opposite river bank is the famous Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyard.

Lirac wines have been produced in the region since pre Roman times and were the favourite wines of kings and the papal community in Avignon at the time of the schism. Pope Innocent IV ordered 20 casks of wine from there in 1357 and Henry IV of France and Louis XIV served them regularly in court known only as Rhône wine. In the mid 17th century the right-bank district of Côte du Rhône had issued regulations to govern the quality of its wine and in 1737 the king ordered that casks of Lirac wine shipped from the nearby river port of Roquemaure should be branded with the letters CDR to introduce a system of protecting its origin. The rules for its Côte du Rhône thus formed the very early basis of today's nationwide AOC system governed by the INAO. Production was very high in those days. In 1774 the vintage yielded more than 8000 hl. of wine. Later, less happy news arrived. In 1863 phylloxera arrived in Lirac and the appellation is believed to be the origin of the pest in France, as an experimenting winemaker at Château de Clary thought of planting Californian vines which proved exceptionally disease carrying. The name was changed to Côtes du Rhône when the left-bank wines were included in the appellation some hundred years later. The appellation received full recognition by a High Court decision in 1937. In the 1930s, Count Henri de Régis, the owner of the Château de Ségriès in the heart of the village of Lirac improved the quality of his wines until in 1945 he obtained the highest distinction, a cru, of the Côtes du Rhône. Two years later in 1947 the appellation was confirmed by government decree. Lirac is the oldest wine in the Côtes du Rhône region and was the first to be produced in all three colours: red, rosé, and white.

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