Coteaux de Tannay is an IGP title covering wines made in an area between the Loire Valley and Burgundy in central France. The appellation covers around 50 municipalities in the Nievre administrative department, forming a triangle of sorts around the villages of Tannay, Clamecy and Brinon-sur-Beuvron. There are no other appellations in the same area.
The area surrounding Tannay has a long history of winegrowing, with the first mentions of viticulture going back as far as the 13th Century. In the 1800s, there was a huge swath of land under vine, although this was severely reduced following the phylloxera crisis of the late 19th Century, and was almost wiped out completely following World War I.
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Nowadays, there are around 30 hectares (74 acres) planted to vines within the Coteaux de Tannay geographic region. Many of these vineyards sit on sunny, south-facing hills to the west of Tannay, where the Yonne river cuts a path through the hills.
Falling (as it does) within the Burgundy region, it is perhaps not surprising that the main grape varieties permitted for use in Coteaux de Tannay IGP wines are Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Melon de Bourgogne. What is perhaps more surprising is that Sauvignon Blanc is not included in the list of permitted grape varieties, despite the famous winegrowing villages of Sancerre and Pouilly-sur-Loire lying just 35 miles (55km) to the west.
The climate in Tannay is continental, with warm summers and a marked diurnal temperature variation during the growing season. A bank of hills to the west of the vineyard area offers some protection from westerly winds from the Atlantic, making Tannay one of the driest parts of the Nievre department.
The geographical area covered by the Coteaux de Tannay IGP is the same as the previous Vin de Pays des Coteaux de Tannay appellation. Since 2009, the Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP) classification has been replacing the Vin de Pays appellations, although winemaking practices in these areas remain relatively unchanged.
