wine fraud; various rules for the production of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, drawn up and promulgated in 1923, were the first Appellation Contrôlée rules in France and provided the prototype for subsequent AOC rules. The original AOC rules allowed ten varieties, were amended to thirteen in 1936 and eighteen in 2009. Baron Pierre le Roy of Château Fortia was the principal architect of these regulations which set the minimum alcohol level of the wines and set limits on yields as well as which types of grapes could be grown in which areas. Another of the baron's requirements was that no vineyards were to be planted on land that was not arid enough to support plantings of both lavender and thyme. In 1954, there was a media sensation as local stories claimed that "flying cigars", or UFOs similar to flying saucers, had been spotted above Châteauneuf-du-Pape and that aliens were interested in their wine. Local politicians, said to be sensing an opportunity to promote the region's wines, passed a law banning flying cigars from entering their airspace or landing on their territory, a law which remains in effect to this day.<ref>F. Prial "WINE; "Identified Flying Object" The New York Times Jan 4, 1987</ref> The legend has become lore among wine aficionados, and the wine Cigare Volant (French for "flying cigar"), in production since 1984, is named after the tale. Climate and geography The appellation stretches from the eastern bank of the Rhône near Orange in the north-west to Sorgues near Avignon in the south-east. The altitude reaches 120 meters at its highest, in the northern part of the appellation. It covers 3200 hectares of land with at least three distinct types of soil or terroirs. In the north and north-east the famous galets roulés, round rocks or pebbles, cover the clay soil. The rocks are famous for retaining the heat from the plentiful sun, some 2800 hours a year, releasing it at night, ripening the grapes faster than in the eastern part of the appellation, where the soil is mostly sand, or the south, where the soil is more gritty. The powerful mistral wind carries away the moisture, intensifying the dry climate. Terroir The characteristic terroir of Châteauneuf-du-Pape comes from a layer of stones called Galets roulés ("pebbles"). The rocks are typically quartzite and remnants of Alpine glaciers that have been smoothed over millennia by the Rhône. The stone retains heat during the day