Gaillacoise

The appellation, named after the small town of the same name, is located in the east of the wine growing region of south-west France. Gaillac is one of the oldest wine-growing regions in France. At least since the 1st century the Romans have been growing wine here. It is possible, however, that there had already been winegrowing under the Celts (Gauls) before that. During the migration of the peoples it came to a standstill and was only reestablished in the 10th century by the Benedictine monks of the monastery Saint-Michel-de-Gaillac. In the 13th century, the Count of Toulouse Raymond VII issued a decree for his wine region for a controlled designation of origin. Already in the 12th century, wine was exported to northern Europe, especially to England, where it enjoyed great popularity. The Aquitanian poet Auger Galhard (1540-1593) praised the sparkling wine long before the invention of champagne. Until the middle of the 20th century, the company specialised in sweet white wines, but then it also began to produce rosé and red wines. The trademark is the rooster with three lilies from the Gaillac city coat of arms, which is why the wines used to be called "Vins du Coq".

The vineyards cover some 3,500 hectares of vineyards north of the city of Toulouse in the department of Tarn in the valley of the Glecihnamigen river. This is just over a third of the 9,000 hectares of vineyards in the...