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A TURBULENT PAST

The first to plant vines in the Languedoc region were the Greeks in the 5th century BC. As with most of France's vineyards, the Romans later brought their viticultural techniques to the area, which led to the expansion of the vineyards. Narbonne was the first major Gallo-Roman city, which allows it to claim to produce the oldest sparkling wine in the world: the Blanquette de Limoux.

Vines flourished on the stony hills where nothing else grew. The arrival of the railway in the 19th century increased the wine production, unfortunately at the expense of its quality. It was only when phylloxera ruined the vineyards in 1863 that the production spread across the plain and the permanent crisis of overproduction began. Everywhere else in France the surface area planted with vines was in decline, the Languedoc region alone provided 40% of French wine production. In 1907, a great revolt broke out among the Languedoc winegrowers, who were ruined by overproduction, by the threat of foreign competition and by the adulterated wines that were created to compensate for this problem.

From the 1960s onwards, the image of the terroir was enhanced by popular appellations and famous estates. Among the most famous appellations are Corbières, Minervois, Pic Saint-Loup and Terrasses du Larzac.

FACING THE MEDITERRANEAN

After Corsica, Languedoc is the hottest region in France. The winds reinforce the drought when they blow from the land (mistral, cers, tramontane); on the contrary, when they come from the sea, they moderate the effects of the heat and bring a beneficial humidity to the vines.

The Mediterranean climate is characterised by mild winters, hot and dry summers with rare rainfalls favourable to the vine, even though the soil is not very fertile. The grape varieties benefit from a great diversity of soils and explain the richness of the terroirs in this region: limestone, schist, clay, marl, etc. It is a land with the scent of the garrigue, that produces mainly red and rosé wines, but also some white and sweet wines.

In 1970, the noble grape varieties were planted which improved the reputation of the wines of the region. The main red grape varieties are Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, but one also finds Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan, Merlot and Pinot Noir. As for the white grape varieties used, they are mainly Grenache Blanc, Bourboulenc, Muscat and Clairette.