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Languedoc and Roussillon produce a number of quality table wines known as "vins de pays".
edit Tasting
While the Vin de Pays status is usually given to generic wines which couldn't achieve the higher AOC status, this doesn't apply to Languedoc-Roussillon.
Here, the Vin de Pays wines are often some of the best wines, made by vintners who are really trying to innovate, with many soils yet to be discovered.
edit Facts and figures
- Red varietals: Carignan, Cinsault, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon...
- White varietals: Grenache Blanc, Macabeu, Muscat, Malvoisie du Roussillon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Marsanne, Vermentino...
edit History
Ancient Greeks are suspected to have first brought vine in this region, but only with the Roman conquest did it become a major culture. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Benedictans and Cistercian monks from local monasteries and abbeys maintained viticulture for the next centuries.
Languedoc-Roussillon was barely affected by the phyloxera epidemic of the late 19th century, however it beneficted from the ensuing price escalation, quickly enriching local vintners. A severe crisis soon followed, due to over-production and a drop in value.
Wines from this region have long suffered a bad reputation. For the last three decades, local vintners made numerous investments, changed their choice of varietals, and greatly reduced their yield to reach a higher quality. Languedoc-Roussillon now offers many AOC and Vin de Pays appellations with wines of indisputable quality.
By tradition, Languedoc produced France's wine lake. Vintners stuffed their grapes into a local cooperative's wine, which was cheap and cheerful and expected to get their wage as a result. They have never followed reform happily and are often considered in the industry as the stroppiest vignerons in France.
In recent years, a new crop of vintners have flooded into the Languedoc and Roussillon regions, determined to make great wine. Some foreigners (Domaine La Baume), some French, some through family inheritance... All of them have created a great new atmosphere of innovation and experimentation.
As Andrew Jefford writes in "The New France", the quality of wine in the Languedoc is surging at present.
edit Geography
There is a real hotch potch of terroirs often within the same appellations. St Chinian for example carries both rocky, schisty slopes and more conventional fields next to each other.
Some terroirs are right by the sea, others inland. Some in the plains, some in the hills. Hence a massive variety of wines.
edit Climate
Climate is rather hot for France. Languedoc is significantly hotter than Bordeaux, and shares similarities with the Rhône Valley. It is also more regularly sunny. There is less variation year on year than in other French regions, although vintage is still relevant: for example, it still holds true that, say, 2003 was freakishly hot and this affected the wines, just as this is the case for Bordeaux.
This region enjoys a Mediterranean climate, with hot and dry summers, and warm falls and springs. Winters are cool but sunny, and almost never reach freezing temperatures. Precipitations are among the lowest in France, and the ever-present "cers", a local name for the wind from inland, helps dry vines and prevent diseases. In a few words, it is an ideal winegrowing climate.
edit Viticulture
edit See also
