LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON
During the past 30 years, no winemaking area of France has transformed itself as much as Languedoc, the fertile crescent of vineyards stretching along a third of the country’s western Mediterranean coastline.
The winemaking region is properly called “Languedoc-Roussillon,” but it’s always just nicknamed “Languedoc.” The name comes from a group of languages spoken throughout the entire southern half of France during the Middle Ages that signified the word “yes” as “oc”; hence, “la langue d’oc,” or “the language of ‘oc.’”
Languedoc is France’s largest single vineyard area (in fact, at 650,000 acres, the globe’s). If you took all of Australia’s vineyards together and about doubled them, you’d have Languedoc-Roussillon’s covered.
In the past, like any immense vineyard, it routinely turned out the vin ordinaire for the daily meals of an entire nation.
No one thought highly of the wines; they were that felicitous but sorry combination of cheap and rough. In the 1980s, however, imaginative winemakers from inside and outside Languedoc took stock of the native promise of Languedoc—older vines, copious sunshine, and a nourishing climate—and forever changed winemaking there.
Nowadays, a new river of better wine – and the best values in French wine as a whole—flows from Languedoc. Today, Languedoc’s wines are polished versions of what they were always: wines with a lot of flavor for not a lot of money.
We’ve had to learn a bunch of new Languedoc-Roussillon AOC* names (Corbières, Minervois, Coteaux de Languedoc, Banyuls, etc.) and all about Vin de Pays d’Oc (which translates, word for word, to the slightly Lord of the Rings-sounding ”wine from the land of Oc”†).
Commonly, these latter wines carry the names of a grape variety (Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, etc.), making them easier for Americans to understand. A varietal Vin de Pays d’Oc can be either a simple, straightforward or an excellent, richly textured rendition of one (or a blend) of these grapes. Either way, the value is generally very high, but it pays to know about producers (or, commonly, cooperatives).
In the French manner, the AOC wines reflect their terroirs so that Corbières, for example, is typically juicy, slightly rustic, and dense, and with hints of garrigue, an intriguing (and prototypically Languedoc) combination of earthy, herby, resinous aromas and tastes. From the Coteaux de Languedoc (an enormous area of 2,000 acres of vines) are emerging several sub-districts of note, such as La Clape and Pic St.-Loup, in which you will find heavy percentages of the delicious grapes Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre grapes.
THE REGIONS
Welcoming the 30 appellations of Languedoc into your wine circle can be confusing, so let me group them for you into just four regions. Each region is unique in the elements that it sports which in turn contribute to the style of wines from it.
The Mountains
This region is close to the bottom of the Rhone Valley and also spreads up against the Languedoc mountains facing the sea. It uses blends of many of the southern Rhone red grapes such as Grenache, Mourvedre, and Syrah and, consequently, its red wines resemble rustic Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Two Languedoc appellations of exemplary quality are Pic St.-Loup and Faugères.
The Coast
This region benefits from cooling Mediterranean breezes that retain acidity in its white wines and temper the often-scorching southern French heat ripening its reds. Picpoul de Pinet abuts one of the country’s best oyster beds and its screeching acidity makes it the go-to white for seafood and fish. If you are on the lookout for some terrifically delicious, deeply concentrated reds, search out the La Clape appellation.
The Center
Languedoc can boast some of its most award-winning red wines from this region which sits facing the Mediterranean largely as a group of appellations devised on terraces sloping into the mainland, as a sort of immense amphitheater with the sea as stage. The names to remember here are Minervois and St.-Chinian.
The West
Some of the moderating, cooling Atlantic climate sneaks over the Pyrenees to influence grape growing in this large region of Languedoc. Many so-called “international” varieties such as pinot noir and chardonnay grow here, alongside native varieties such as Mauzac, the basis of one of the area’s strong suits, sparkling wine from Limoux.
Research indicates that the famed “methode champenoise,” or second fermentation in the bottle, began in Limoux in the 1530s, a century before Dom Pérignon labored in Champagne.
The South
This sometimes blisteringly hot region contains the highest percentage in Languedoc of grapes native to southern France, stalwarts such as Carignan. While Carignan can be harsh and gratingly tannic, as it showed itself in the old Languedoc days to render wines with substance and body, today its very old vines can make much sleeker, rapturously aromatic reds. One of the better-performing regions here is the appellation of Corbières.
Grapes
Languedoc-Roussillon plants all the major international grape varieties—and then some. In addition to the sexier chardonnays and cabernet sauvignons found there, Cinsault (sometimes spelled Cinsaut) does a workaday job producing delicious rosé wines; Viognier increasingly turns out delicious, aromatic whites; Picpoul makes for steely, citrusy whites in the area of Pinet; and Carignan, which can be coarse from other areas of the world, is the spine of the better Corbières, Minervois, Faugères and St.-Chinian. (These four, joined by Coteaux de Languedoc, are the region’s five high-quality AOCs.)
Sweet and fortified wines
Languedoc-Roussillon has long produced what are called vins doux naturels—naturally sweet wines. In fact, they are sweet very unnaturally because, like Port, their fermentations are arrested while still sugar-laden through the addition of pure grape brandy. Typically, the wines are not sweet in the manner of Sauternes, that is, by the raisining of grapes brought about by botrytis cinerea, the “noble rot.”
Muscat grapes (either the renowned Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains or the slightly less noble Muscat of Alexandria) form the base for most of these wines—Muscat de Frontignan, for example, or Rivesaltes, respectively—while Grenache makes the heady, reddish Banyuls.
While made in the manner of Port, vins doux naturels taste slightly more alcoholic and less sweet than Port, making for excellent apéritif wines or to go with simple desserts.
Languedoc eats
Strange as it may seem, red wine-loving Languedoc is the unofficial capital of French mussel cultivation. And, in truth, the juicy, straightforward reds of Languedoc-Roussillon are delicious with garlic-laden mussel preparations.
White Languedoc-Roussillon wines are engineered to accompany the several seafood dishes of the Mediterranean littoral—try a good white Limoux with bouillabaisse or other fish stew—while its surfeit of red wines are perfect partners to game dishes, roast fowl, ragouts, terrines, roasted red meats, and pork. They are, in short, great winter wines.
A famous cheese of Languedoc, Bleu de Causses, is terrific with one of the area’s vins doux naturels, while many of the region’s goat cheeses do well with its dry white and rosé wines.
Do not pass on the common Languedoc-Roussillon practice of drinking dry rosé, especially in the summertime, with nearly any preparation of food, served either cool or warm.
* The French system of appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC), which governs grape growing and wine production for the country.
† The name “Languedoc” comes from a group of languages spoken throughout southern France during the Middle Ages and that signified the word “yes” as oc, hence, la langue (the language) d’oc (of “oc”)