Last modified: 2016-02-14 by ivan sache
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![[Flag]](../images/f/fr-bz-vn.gif)
Flag of Pays du Vignoble Nantais - Image by Ivan Sache, 12 July 2015
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Pays du Vignoble Nantais (Country of the Nantes Vineyards) forms the south-easternmost part of historical Brittany. Located south of river Loire, the country is made of 30 municipalities grouped in the Syndicat mixte du SCoT et du Pays du Vignoble Nantais, counting together some 130,000 inhabitants.
The country is named for the vineyards that covers one quarter of its
area. It is the cradle of the Muscadet dry white wine, produced from
grapes of a single variety, the Melon de Bourgogne. Documented in
neighbouring Anjou in 1529, the Melon was introduced in the Nantes vineyards in 1635.
The Muscadet AOC - the oldest "appellation d'origine contrôlée" for French wines - was established by the Decree of 23 September 1937.
The Muscadet AOC is subdivided into three regional sub-appellations:
- Muscadet Sèvre et Maine (1936), named for rivers Sèvre nantaise and Maine, mostly produced in the Country of the Nantes Vineyards (6,900 ha; 23 villages). In 2011, the three municipalities of Clisson, Gorges and Le Pallet were allowed to add their name to the Muscadet Sèvre et Maine appellation. The municipalities of Mouzillon-Tillières, Monnières-Saint-Fiacre, Château-Thébaud and Vallet have submitted an
application to obtain the same grant.
- Muscadet Côteaux de la Loire (1936, 189 ha, 24 villages);
- Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu (1994), mostly produced near Lake
Grandlieu (717 ha, 17 villages).
Ivan Sache, 12 July 2015
The flag of Pays du Vignoble Nantais (photo, L'Hebdo de Sèvre et Maine, 22 May 2015), designed by Raphaël Vinet,
was adopted on 4 April 2015 by the Collectif pour la Promotion du Pays
du Vignoble Nantais.
The flag was inaugurated on 24 May 2015, during the 4th Grande Tablée
Bretonne, a festival organized in Nantes by the Comité des Vins Bretons (photos).
The flag is quartered by a black cross. The first and the fourth quarters are red, charged with a white lion's head crowned and langued in yellow and with a yellow, two-leaved bunch of grapes, respectively. The second and third quarters are white with five black ermine spots, placed 3 and 2.
The black cross cantonned with ermine spots, inspired by the flag of
Nantes, recalls that the area historically belonged to Brittany. The ermine spot is also found on the coat of arms of 22 out of the 34 municipalities forming Pays du Vignoble Nantais. The first quarter recalls the arms of the town of Clisson, the unofficial capital of Pays du Vignoble Nantais. The fourth quarter recalls wine-growing; a bunch of grapes is also found on several local coat of arms. Here, the leaves are shaped like those of the Melon variety used to produce Muscadet wine.
[Agence Bretagne Presse]
Ivan Sache, 12 July 2015