AOC Tricastin changes name to Grignan-Les Adhémar

The French Institut National de l’Origine et de la qualité (INAO) has finally approved the name change for the AOC Tricastin. The name change has been debated since July 2008, after an uranium leak in the nearby nuclear plant Tricastin (near Avignon). The new name is AOP (Appellation d’origine protégé) Grignan-Les Adhémar. The existing vin de pays Comté de Grignan also change its name and henceforth is called IGP (Protected Geographical Indication) Méditerrannée and / or Drôme, with the optional mention of Comté de Grignan. The name change is final after a public inquiry that will take two months and the signature of the French Minister of Agriculture. The AGP Grignan-Les Adhémar groups 340 vintners in 21 municipalities in the valley of the Rhône. The now defunct AOC Tricastin was granted in 1973.