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AOC — PDO — Midi-Pyrénées
Golden and translucent under the sun of Quercy blanc, Chasselas de Moissac is the only table grape to hold an AOC in France, a distinction earned through centuries of patient cultivation in the Tarn valley.
Fruit from Midi-Pyrénées, PDO (AOP) since 1996.
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The presence of vines in Bas-Quercy dates back to the Middle Ages: carvings adorning several capitals of the Romanesque cloister in Moissac bear witness to this. The Syndicat de Défense du Chasselas de Moissac also recalls a local legend according to which the cuttings used to plant the famous Treille du Roy at the château de Fontainebleau, at the request of François Ier, came from Quercy—a tale unsupported by any historical evidence, however. It was at the very end of the 18th century that this crop, hitherto grown for family consumption, began to become commercial; the first local inventories, drawn up between 1830 and 1850, attest to the presence of the Chasselas grape variety in the cantons of the arrondissement of Moissac and on the hillside slopes bordering the Tarn, Garonne and Aveyron.
The arrival of the Bordeaux–Sète railway line in 1858 changed the scale of production: Jean-Baptiste Salers established the first intensive Chasselas plantation at Montescot, near Moissac, and organised the direct dispatch of bunches to the Halles de Paris, transforming a local product into a national trade. Phylloxera ravaged the vineyard around 1870; the subsequent introduction of resistant rootstocks enabled the resumption of cultivation and its geographical expansion, notably towards Cazes-Mondenard and Lauzerte. The early 20th century saw the rise of promotional efforts for Chasselas—tours by F. Charmeux from 1912 onwards, the first exhibitions in the cloister of Moissac—and the planted area reached 4,100 hectares in 1914.
Legal protection of the name long predated the AOC: as early as 1919, the law on designations of origin covered Chasselas de Moissac, and a judgment by the Moissac court on 21 July 1953 reaffirmed its characteristics (berry size, colour, bunch integrity) as well as its production area. The decree of 14 June 1971 finally established the appellation d'origine contrôlée: Chasselas de Moissac then became France's first fresh fruit under an AOC. European recognition followed in 1996, with the award of PDO (AOP). Today, the Syndicat de Défense du Chasselas de Moissac PDO coordinates the sector from Moissac and organises annual events around the grape, such as Moissac Fruits et Saveurs.
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Chasselas de Moissac is best enjoyed chilled, at the end of a meal or as an aperitif, on its own or by the bunch. Its golden, sweet berries pair well with soft or goat's cheeses, whose milky softness answers the fruit's freshness. In cooking, it classically accompanies pan-fried foie gras, a common pairing in the Sud-Ouest, or is used to garnish mixed salads.
Above all a grape of freshness, it keeps best in the refrigerator and is best eaten shortly after purchase to enjoy its crispness to the full.
Chasselas de Moissac is produced exclusively from the Chasselas B variety, selected locally from vines in the Moissac area through clonal selection conducted from 1956 onwards by INRA technicians with the assistance of growers. The appellation recognises no official sub-varieties: it relies on this single grape variety, cultivated using a single- or two-plane trellising system.
Since: 1971
Area covered: 76 communes in the departments of Tarn-et-Garonne (82) and Lot (46)
Key requirements: Decree of 14 June 1971; Chasselas B grape variety, single- or two-plane trellising, manual harvesting, sugar content ≥ 17.2° Brix, sugar/acidity ratio > 25
Since: 1996
Area covered: 76 communes in the departments of Tarn-et-Garonne (82) and Lot (46)
Key requirements: European recognition of the designation of origin
Producers' union
EARL — family wine estate
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