Wine region
Languedoc-Roussillon
France’s largest wine region: about 200,000 hectares on the Mediterranean, from Corbières and Faugères to Picpoul de Pinet, Limoux and Banyuls.
- Vineyard area
- about 200,000 hectares, roughly a quarter of the French vineyard
- Main grapes
- Red: Syrah, Grenache, Carignan, Mourvèdre, Cinsault; white: Grenache Blanc, Vermentino, Picpoul, Chardonnay, Mauzac
- Climate and soils
- hot, dry, Mediterranean; Tramontane and Cers; schist, limestone and clay-limestone, garrigue
- Signature wines
- Corbières, Minervois, Saint-Chinian, Faugères, Pic Saint-Loup, Picpoul de Pinet, Blanquette de Limoux
- Sweet specialities
- vins doux naturels of Roussillon: Banyuls, Maury, Rivesaltes
Languedoc-Roussillon, with about 200,000 hectares, is France’s largest wine region, roughly a quarter of the country’s entire vineyard. It forms an arc along the Mediterranean, from Nîmes to the Spanish border at the foot of the Pyrenees. The climate is hot, dry and sunny; winds such as the Tramontane and the Cers keep the vines healthy. Soils alternate between schist, limestone and clay-limestone, and between coastal plains, garrigue hills and mountain sites a great variety of styles arises.
For a long time Languedoc was mainly a supplier of everyday wine. After the phylloxera crisis in the 19th century the plains were replanted with productive varieties such as Aramon and Carignan; in the 1970s the vineyard covered more than 400,000 hectares. It has since fallen to about half, through state-supported uprooting and because growers replanted the best slopes with Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre. Alongside the cooperatives, many independent estates now work here, and quality has changed greatly.
The reds mostly rest on Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Carignan; they are warm, spicy and fruity, with the herbs of the garrigue. Corbières, Minervois and Saint-Chinian are the well-known names; Faugères stands entirely on schist. Pic Saint-Loup, named after a 658-metre mountain north of Montpellier, has been an appellation in its own right since 2017, with about 1,500 hectares; the vines grow among garrigue and limestone rock, and it relies on Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre. Among the whites, Picpoul de Pinet stands out, a saline, fresh wine from Piquepoul Blanc alone, from the Étang de Thau, on about 1,400 hectares. Limoux, south of Carcassonne, makes sparkling wine: Blanquette de Limoux, at least 90 per cent Mauzac, claims to be the oldest sparkling wine in the world; tradition speaks of monks and the year 1531. Crémant de Limoux is built on Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc.
Roussillon is home to the vins doux naturels: Banyuls, Maury and Rivesaltes, sweet wines mostly from Grenache or Muscat whose fermentation is stopped by adding grape spirit. Alongside them is the IGP Pays d’Oc, whose wines often name the grape on the label, from Chardonnay and Merlot to Syrah.
At the table: cassoulet from Castelnaudary calls for a powerful red from Corbières, Minervois or Saint-Chinian, Picpoul de Pinet for oysters and shellfish, Blanquette for the aperitif, Banyuls for dark chocolate, Maury and Rivesaltes for blue cheese.