History

Wine has been grown here for at least two and a half millenia, when the Greeks settled here.

Production continued through the Roman Empire, the Christian Dark Ages and the Middle Ages, and into modern times. It was of course hit by phylloxera, like most other French wines. For almost a century after the phylloxera, the wines of Languedoc were often referred to as Army Wines - large quantity, low quality.

At the beginning of the 70s, it became clear that the region was not ready for the changing wine market. Production exceeded the demand, especially when the European Common Market introduced even cheaper Spanish and Italian wines. The quality was mediocre. Languedoc prices were high compared to Italian, Spainish and new wine growing countries. Languedoc Roussillon wine makers were forced to change or give up. Huge areas of vines were grubbed up (subsidised by the Common Market).

Those who remained began to use new techniques like aging the wine in oak barrels. They replaced low quality grape varieties with better ones like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (red), Chardonnay and Viognier (white). 120,000 hectares were replanted under a rejuvenation programme. New plantings brought in new varietals. Improvements started particularly in the appellations of Minervois, Corbiere and Fitou and have since spread throughout the Midi. Many of these wines are developing a reputation as offering the best value in France, still underpriced in comparison with their counterparts from other regions. Because of this, Languedoc Roussillon is now one of the most successful wine regions in France.

 
Grenache: Thought to have originated in Spain, where it is known as Garnacha, this is a hot climate red grape ideally suited to the Languedoc region of France and the Navarra region of Spain. It is primarily a blending grape, thin skinned, so giving lighter colour. It is often used to add subtlety to the more beefy southern reds. Has become very popular in California and Australia where it can be seen as a single varietal.


Syrah: The classic red grape of the northern Rhône. It produces intense inky purple coloured wines when young with a distinctly spicy tone. As it matures it turns to deep garnet with evolving earthy, stewed blackberry and damson flavours. It gives huge extract and tannins and is capable of great ageing. As 'Shiraz' in Australia it presents a more approachable nature, more plummy and elegant when young but still retaining that spicy character and intense colour. It is best suited to hot climates and granite soils.


Mourvèdre


Cabernet Sauvignon: The classic grape of Bordeaux and the dominant variety in all the top growths of the Medoc. A most fashionable varietal, sought the world over and synonymous with rich blackcurrant concentration, cassis and cedarwood. It is a small grape, giving very deep colour and extract, quite resistant to disease and capable of producing wines of great longevity, elegance and structure. It is grown throughout the winemaking world as both a single varietal and a blending grape, where it imparts a classic quality to many local indigenous varieties. It has been particularly successful in Australia, California and South America where the long, warm ripening season and diverse soils realise the grape's true potentials. It has a natural affinity with oak, which imparts the wonderful cedar and 'cigar box' attributes for which the grape is famous.

Merlot:Responsible for that delicious, plummy, soft style of wine it is an ideal blend with the more austere Cabernet. It is an adaptable grape that ripens early, gives great colour and fruit sweetness, but is susceptible to spring frosts and to rot. It has become extremely popular throughout the world in both its blended and varietal form, especially in Italy, Australia and Chile. It is used in the still wines of Limoux.

Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot have replaced mediocre grape varieties like Aramon and Alicante.



White:

Chenin Blanc or Pineau de la Loire is the grape-variety which produces the best white wines of Anjou and is used in the Languedoc-Roussillon. Chenin Blanc is used for dry and sweet wines such as Blanquette de Limoux. It is subject to noble rot and for that reason is harvested as late as possible, sometimes in November.

Grenache blanc

Macabeu

Clairette: This is a southern grape-variety and one of the oldest. It is used with others in white and rosé wines of Languedoc-Roussillon. Clairette is used for some "muscats" and for sparkling wines such as Blanquette de Limoux. Clairette gives a high degree of alcohol. It madeirizes quickly, which in the past was considered one of its best points, but nowadays is regarded as a fault. Aromas: peach and apricot



Roussanne

Marsanne: White grape of the Northern Rhône and primary constituent of white Crozes-Hermitage and St.Joseph it is also a permitted blend for red Hermitage. It produces wines high in extract and alcohol with pronounced floral and almond characteristics. Often blended with the more refined Roussanne for a touch of elegance. Seen as a varietal in the Victoria region of Australia, notably Chateau Tahbilk.



Mauzac. Properly known as Mauzac Blanc. This is a white grape found only in the southern areas of France. It ripens late, so frost can be a problem in cooler climates. It is used primarily for making dry and sweet sparkling wines that can be very good if done in the better Methode Champenoise. The better examples have a unique dried apple character to them. It is often blended with Chenin Blanc. The best examples come from Gaillac and Limoux, where it is known as Blanquette an is the main component of a sparkling wine called Blanquette de Limoux.


Ugni blanc


Bourboulenc


Muscat: There is no single Muscat grape but rather a family of grapes - over 200 in total - to which the name Muscat is appended. They are generally associated with aromatic, full flavoured wines with distinct floral and musky tones. They can be vinified dry, as in Alsace, sweet as in the Italian 'Moscato' and fortified as in Muscat Beaumes-de-Venise etc. In Spain the variety is known as 'Moscatel', in South Africa 'Muskadel' and many wine lovers have enjoyed the sumptuous delights of the Liqueur 'Brown' Muscats of Australia. The Languedoc Muscats are made from Alexandrian Muscat grapes or the highly regarded ‘Muscat à Petits Grains’ variety, or a blend of the two. Depending on their age, these wines are drunk as aperitifs, with foie gras or with desserts and sorbets.


Vermentino


Rolle


Viognier: A relatively obscure vine, difficult to grow and cultivate and capable of only tiny yields, Viognier owes its reputation to the fine wines it produces in the northern Rhône, namely Condrieu and Château Grillet. It has a distinct orange blossom and apricot aroma together with a golden yellow colour, huge weight of tropical fruits with a broad weighty structure and quite high in alcohol. It is produced to a lesser extent as a Vin de Pays in the Languedoc and there are also some plantings in California. Its low yields and associated difficulties are unlikely to elevate it to the commercial status.

Chardonnay: The classic white varietal of Burgundy and perhaps the best known and loved white varietal in the world. It is vigorous, easy to grow but susceptible to spring frosts. It grows well in cooler climates but can lose acidity if picked late.. Its typical varietal characteristics are honeyed, tropical fruit flavours with toasty, buttery nuances. It ages well and is totally at home with oak, which imparts vanilla and butterscotch tones. Its diversity of style can perhaps account for some of its worldwide appeal. It is used in Blanquette de Limoux.

Viognier and Chardonnay have been introduced with success in Languedoc-Roussillon. Chardonnay is now the most widely used grape in the region. Piquepoul grapes are used to make Picpoul de Pinet, a specialty of the Coteaux du Languedoc region



Sweet white wine:
Muscat blanc,
Muscat romain or d'Alexandrie
Grenache


Sparkling white wine:

The white wines of Limoux have been famous down the ages. Titus Livius praised them 2000 years ago, then in 1531 a Benedictine monk discovered the natural process which makes still wines sparkling, and the first champagne in the world was born. Blanquette and crémant wines arrived later - after a first fermentation, a second fermentation takes place in the bottle and the wine develops a froth. The old Blanquette method relies on natural fermentation, but in the modern production process, an activating liqueur is added to the base wine to bring about the second fermentation, and this gives the wine its dry or semi-dry character after about 9 months. Limoux also makes a white Appellation, fermented and kept in oak barrels.

WINES

Take the Languedoc road......
Introduced in the 5th century BC by the Greeks, developed by the Romans then by the monastries and the abbeys, the Languedoc vines have always been at the origin of the region’s economic and cultural history.
Today, the winegrowers have benefitted from this history and have created wines intheir own image : proud, passionate, adn generous by tradition.
The have had to rediscover the character of the traditional grape varieties, utilize the potential of the terroirs, considerably improve their vinification techniques and limit the yields, in order to develop the best in this region where the sun and the wind prevail. The granting of the status of Appellation d’Origine Contrölée is the acknowledgement of this qualitative and cultural rebirth.

...and get to know its vineyards...
Spreading out from the mediterranean coast to the foothills of the Cé-vennes mountains, from Nîmes to Carcassone, through Montpellier, Beziers and Narbonne, the AOC of the Languedoc offer a palette of white, red and rosé wines which are really worth discovering : Corbieres, Minervois, Coteaux du Languedoc, Fitou, Saint-Chinian, Faugeres, Clairette du Languedoc, Limoux, Cabardes, Malepere.


Clairette du Languedoc
White wine, classified AOC in 1948.
Grape varieties : Clairette blanche.
Production zone : this is the smallest and one of the oldest appellationof the Languedoc. It occupies the slopes bordering the middle valley of the Herault river.
Characteristics : the wines of the Clairette have, one might say, always existed. Frist mentionned by Pline the Ancient (in Gallo-Roman times) and later by Rabelais, it was particularly appreciated by Ronsard. The Clairette du Languedoc wines can be drunk both young or after oxidative ageing (rancio), dry or sweet. They provide a subtle and refined accompaniment to shellfish and other delicate fish.


Coteaux du Languedoc
White, red or rosé wines, classified A.O.C. in 1985.
Grape varieties : Syrah is the dominant red grape variety, blended with traditional mediterranean varieties like Grenache, Cinsault, Carignan and, increasingly, Mourvedre. The white grape varieties are Marsanne, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, Rolle, Bourboulenc, Picpoul and Clairette.
Production zone : covering an area of over 16700 acres between Nimes and Montpellier, this is the most maritime of the appellations of the Languedoc, though there are also a few, more discreet terroirs facing the Cevennes. Its wines are presented under the name of the Cru (Saint Chinian, Faugeres or Clairette du Languedoc) or the appellation Coteaux du Languedoc, usde by itself or followed by the name of a terroir.
Characteristics : each terroir has its own particular identity, but in all these wines inspired by the fragrances of the garrigue, one finds a sensation of suppleness ans freshness which make them an irresistable moment of pleasure.

Faugeres
Red and rosé wines, classified A.O.C. in 1982.
Grape varieties : Carignan, Cinsault, Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah.
Production zone : this vineyard forms a balcony (reaching, at its highest point, an altitude of 600 m) set up against the Cevennes mountains and overlooking the plain of the Languedoc with the sea in the distance. Situated to the north of Beziers, this terroir of 4500 acres undulates over ridges of schist.
Characteristics : made by classic vinification or by carbonic maceration, the Faugeres wines are round with soft tannins and delicate aromas of ripe fruit and liquorice. With time they develop pleasant bouquets with notes of leather and flint.


Saint Chinian
Red and rose wines, classified A.O.C. in 1982.
Grape varieties : Carignan, Cinsault, Grenache, Lladonner, Rolle, Mourvedre and Syrah.
Production zone : at the foot of the Montagne Noire, on either side of the Orb and Vernazobre rivers with the mountain of the Caroux and the Espinousse in the background, twenty villages grouped together to produce the Cru Saint-Chinian. It spreads over 6700 acres in colourful surroundings and a warm, rustic atmosphere.
Characteristics : Saint-Chinian wines are sometimes fruity, supple and generous, sometines fullbodied, long and true to local character, some are at their best when young, while others must wait 3 to 5 years to fully develop. With the onset of winter in this hunters’paradise, it is pleasurable to imagine wild game turning on a spit in a large fireplace, and powerful wines with a brilliant ruby robe and aromas of red berry fruits and cistus.

Minervois
Red, rose ans white wines, Muscat and «vins nobles», classified A.O.C. in 1985.
Grape varieties : Mourvedre and Syrah bring an aromatic complexity and finesse to the Carignan, Cinsault and Grenache for the red and rosé wines. There are many white grape varieties : Marsanne, Roussanne, Maccabeu, Bourboulenc, Rolle, Clairette and Muscat.
Production zone : Situated within a triangle formed by the three towns of Carcassonne, Narbonne and Beziers, the vineyards spread from terrace to terrace over 45000 acres, 12500 of which are in production.
Characteristics : the eastern part of the Minervois offers well-structured reds with a fine blackcurrant robe, the central part produces wines that are distinguished and supple, while the whites are fresh and rich in floral aromas. In the western part the reds are lively and aromatic, the whites drier. At a higher altitude the reds are more full-bodied while the whites draw their inspiration from the scent of heather. At Saint-Jean-de-Minervois the Muscat comes into its own, a Vin Doux Naturel which is subtle and fruity.