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Surface area
: 6 278 ha
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Yield per hectare
: 52 hl/ha
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Production
(in 2006) : 306 250 hl, or 40.7 million bottles. 1/3 of this is sold
as Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau.
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Grape variety
: gamay noir à jus blanc
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Color
: red
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Pruning type
: short goblet (3 to 5 branches).
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Number
of plants per hectare : from 8 000 to 13 000, 10 000 on average.
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Soil type
: the soils are made up of granite and sand with a little clay that
give very light acidic soils
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Orientation
: East-Southeast.
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Communes with
the right to the appellation name : 38 communes in the Rhône
(31 villages) and Saône-et-Loire (7 villages) departments, in
three zones that produce wines with different typicities. The southern
zone leans back against the Haute-Azergue hills and gives very fruity
wine. The central zone that touches the Brouilly and Régnié
appellation areas gives its wines more structure in the Cru sector.
The most northern zone gives more robust wines that are true keeping
wines and are beautifully rounded in the mouth after a few years.
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Number of vinegrowers
: around 1250, 800 of whom only produce Beaujolais-Villages.
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Vinification
: in whole bunches. This vinification type is specific to the Beaujolais
winemaking area. Length of fermentation on the skins: from 4 to 5 days
for the Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau, from 6 to 9 days for the Beaujolais-Villages
'to lay down'. After vatting and the first, alcoholic, fermentation,
the grapes are pressed and the run off and press juices are assembled
then the second, malo-lactic fermentation takes place. Its role is to
render the wines supple in removing their acidity.
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