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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

nappes de graves ... modelées en croupe

English translation:

layers of gravelly soil mounded into hillocks/mounds/knolls/ridges/croupes

Added to glossary by Carol Gullidge
Feb 10, 2010 16:17
14 yrs ago
French term

nappes de graves ... modelées en croupe

French to English Other Wine / Oenology / Viticulture type of soil
L'appellation Haut-Médoc s'étire sur une soixantaine de kilomètres du nord au sud, de Saint-Seurin de Cadourne à Blanquefort. Elle repose sur des terroirs d'une remarquable qualité. Et si l'on y note une certaine prédominance de ******>******, l'ensemble de ces sites se caractérise par une extrême diversité.
______________

"modelées en croupe" is what is stumping me. Layers of gravel in the shape (?) of... what exactly?

The term "modelé en croupe de graves pyrénéennes" gets plenty of g-hits, but not enough to make the meaning clear to me.

I'd be very grateful for any suggestions - many thanks!
Proposed translations (English)
4 +3 layers of gravelly soil mounded into hillocks
4 pebble slopes
2 piled into little mounds
References
Les Graves
Change log

Feb 15, 2010 12:32: Carol Gullidge Created KOG entry

Proposed translations

+3
3 hrs
Selected

layers of gravelly soil mounded into hillocks

Croupe La croupe correspond au SOMMET ARRONDI D'UNE COLLINE. On parle souvent, notamment DANS LE BORDELAIS, de CROUPES GRAVELEUSES, particulièrement propices à la culture de la vigne et, notamment, à son ensoleillement.
http://www.invinoveritas.fr/pages/glossaire.htm

Croupe: SOMMET DE FORME RONDE ou arête de forme arrondie.
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/trebla-mountain/glossaire/glossa...


The estate is situated on a hillock encompassing 72 hectares of contiguous land. Fifty-five hectares are planted with vines. The terrain consists of "GÜNZIEN" GRAVELY SOIL,
http://www.decanter.com/winefinder/producer_details.php?pid=...

A Smith Haut Lafitte, nous avons l'une des rares CROUPE DE GRAVES GUNZIENNES, épaisse et de couleur ocre,
caractéristique de sa richesse en oxyde de fer
http://www.smith-haut-lafitte.com/Technique-Chateau-Smith-Ha...

Caractéristiques générales du vin : Bien qu’on y produise du vin depuis le milieu du XIVème siècle, Château Smith Haut Lafitte voit véritablement le jour au XVIIIème siècle avec Georges Smith, son fondateur. Quant au nom « Lafitte », il vient du latin « ficta » (« la pierre »), DEVENU « FITTE » EN PATOIS GASCON POUR DÉSIGNER UNE CROUPE DE GRAVES, SEMBLABLE À CELLE SUR LAQUELLE EST IMPLANTÉ LE VIGNOBLE.
http://www.idealwine.com/fr/cotes_vins/cote.jsp?vin=657&mill...

About Château Smith Haut Lafitte. The estate is situated on a HILLOCK encompassing 72 hectares of contiguous land. Fifty-five hectares are planted with ...
www.stirlingfinewine.com/items/cellar_notes?itemid=150886

all of the finest vineyards of the Médoc, it lies on a GRAVELLY HILLOCK, one of the extremely gentle mounds that stop the Médoc being completely flat. ...
https://www.bwinex.com/index.php?language=en&id=42000...
Note from asker:
many thanks Bourth, and for the super elucidating refs! I was already thinking along the lines of mounds/rises/hillocks and even hummocks... One writer even leaves them as croupes - but I think this would definitely need glossing in the text
many thanks to all of you! This was hard to grade, as it was Melzie's speedy response that put me on to the very apt mounds, leading to hillocks, and eventually the lovely 'dunes' and 'knolls' (possibly the closest translation?). However, all these really helpful links helped to confirm that at least one of these will do, along with the commonly-used "rises" and "ridges". I'm also including "croupes" in the Glossary, as that does in fact crop up quite a lot, although I feel that this would require glossing at the first instance
Peer comment(s):
agree Stephanie Ezrol : lovely references.
41 mins
agree kashew : Yes - "gravelly hillocks" has a nice ring to it, but "pebbly gravel" would make my day!
12 hrs
agree Mark Nathan : yes, I was going to post something very similar
14 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
14 mins

pebble slopes

Simplifying it somewhat.

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Note added at 15 minutes (2010-02-10 16:32:36 GMT)
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the "nappes" means "layers" in geological terms.
Example sentence:

a series of southfacing flint and pebble slopes behind Pouille on the south

Note from asker:
many thanks kashew! It was the "croupes" that I was struggling with rather than the "nappes". I like slopes, but wonder where "modelées" would fit into this
Something went wrong...
17 mins

piled into little mounds

I did some research and came up with mounds for croupe a while ago. Sadly, for me at least, my internet connection is up the spout today and I can't seem to access any new pages (including google) which is why I've put such low confidence as I can give you no links or quotes. - This also seems to fit with the terrain in question.
Note from asker:
many thanks Melzie! Believe it or not, "gravelly mounds" does get a few relevant g-hits - but "gravelly rises" gets even more. This could be the way to go.
Peer comment(s):
neutral kashew : not "rises" but "slopes" (hillsides) as I suggested.
15 hrs
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

5 mins
Reference:

Les Graves

...Dans leur immense majorité, les grands Bordeaux sont issus de ces cailloux, les graves.

De ce sol très pauvre naît la complexité et la singularité des grands Bordeaux. Car les conditions extrêmes des nappes de graves obligent la vigne à se sublimer pour ne pas mourir et pour pouvoir offrir des raisins de très grande qualité.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 minutes (2010-02-10 16:24:50 GMT)
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http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:yexVm7PyqHQJ:www.1855.c...


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Note added at 15 heures (2010-02-11 07:41:43 GMT)
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Pebbly or gravelly hillocks?
Dans leur furie, la Garonne et la Dordogne arrachent aux montagnes des milliards de mètres cubes de cailloux : les " graves " , comme on les nomme à Bordeaux. Comme deux serpents en colère, les deux fleuves changent fréquemment de lit et balaient toute la région de leurs mouvements. Les cailloux se dispersent et se déposent en épaisses terrasses que l'érosion va ensuite modeler en collines de cailloux.
Note from asker:
great link - many thanks kashew! I particularly like "Les cailloux se dispersent et se déposent en épaisses terrasses que l'érosion va ensuite modeler en collines de cailloux. "
pebbles vs gravel: we seem to be trawling the same websites! Photos show what I would definitely call pebbles (some quite sizeable!) rather than gravel. But the bordelais have (rather endearingly?) called it 'graves', and 'Pyrenean pebbles' and 'Garonne pebbles' don't get nearly the same no of g-hits as 'Pyrenean gravel' and 'Garonne gravel'. Later in the text, however, they do talk about 'cailloux arrondis' - still discussing the soil - safe to call these 'pebbles'!
Something went wrong...
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