Languedoc-Roussillon 235 Languedoc-Roussillon
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LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON 235 LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON The 1990s saw an influx of Australian winemakers, who have since played a not insignificant role in the raising of standards; but the sale in 2003 of the Australian-owned Domaine de la Baume could signal a swing back to a more homegrown stimulus. Domaine de la Baume is not significant in terms of the total production of this region, but there is no denying that its purchase by BRL Hardy in 1990, at the beginning of Australia’s inexorable success on export markets, gave local wine producers a psychological boost. VINEYARDS AT BAGES The Mediterranean coastal vineyards of the Côtes du Roussillon, IN A STRANGE WAY, the presence of a top Australian group was around Perpignan, are reputed to be some of the hottest in France. viewed as a seal of approval for local winemakers, just as the presence of Moët & Chandon in Australia had been seen by that country’s sparkling winemakers. It was all a matter of timing: Australian wines were Tarn du es Florac surging, French wines were slowing down, D911 or g N G Pont-St-Esprit 9 D LOZERE la Grand- 980 and the south was all potential, with very D996 Combe D9 N106 few wineries taking advantage of it. le Rozier D904 BAGNOLS- SUR-CEZE And vins de pays were not, as yet, ALÈS MILLAU D6 D986 St-Jean- D907 a force to be reckoned with. du-Gard N86 Réquista BRL Hardy, or Hardy’s as it rn St-Rome- D981 Ta de-Tarn Uzès la Cavalerie GARD D999 le Vigan was known then, was St-Affrique A St-Hippolyte- VILLENEUVE-LES- 75 du-Fort N106 G D981 D999 110 ar AVIGNON leading the Australian D999 N do D999 n N100 Ganges Quissac A9 t V 6 l charge on global D8 AVEYRON i Alban u d 268 Gorges et Côtes a o le Caylar r u Nîmes é N570 D986 r exports, and yet it de Millau H le St-Martin- Tarascon saw sufficient TARN Fayet D902 de-Londres Pic St-Loup Sommières Beaucaire Langlade D D40 99 12 D9 848 A54 Clairette de promise in a small D D32 St.-Drézéry St-Christol 113 Lacaune Vérargues N Bellegarde St-Saturnin Montpeyroux domaine in an D922 Lunel Vauvert 1124 A75 286 Castries 72 ARLES D622 Clairette du Gignac N5 Bédarieux Lunel-Viel Languedoc St-Georges- la Méjanelle St-Gilles BOUCHES CASTRES Ag Clermont- D979 out D908 d'Orques 10 D570 D907 Olargues l'Hérault Montpellier D621 702 Cabrières Pignan D62 DURHONEN568 Faugères Aigues-Mortes R MAZAMET h D622 112 D35 N ô Labastide-Rouairoux Saint- n Chinian HÉRAULTN113 e D118 Pézenas D629 N112 D36D909 Frontignan Mireval D907 St-Chinian Mèze les N9 799 O Pinet Frontignan Saintes-Maries- Martys r Port-St-Louis- 286 N112 b de-la-Mer D624 Côtes du Saint-Jean BÉZIERS SÈTE du-Rhône N312 Cabardes de Minervois D51 Castelnaudary D11 15 et de l'Orbiel Caunes D5 A61 N113 Minervois Olonzac Capestang al i Agde 54 n Mid A9 A 6 a du Golfe du Lion D C Coursan u Cap d'Agde Trèbes d Prouille e Valras-Plage Lezignan- CARCASSONNE Corbières la Clape PARIS N623 see also D119 A61 NARBONNE LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON, p.55 Mirepoix D613 AUDE 69 Quatourze This is the largest wine-producing region in H Lagrasse D611 e Limoux r s Côtes de u France, with vineyards stretching from the 799 ie la Malepère rb Villerouge- ARIÈGE O Termenes Sigean Camargue to the Spanish border, including 772 3 Lavelanet Arques D61 596 what used to be the Midi. Puivert D27 D117 Couiza Rivesaltes and Tuchan Quillan A9 Grand Rousillon Port-Leucate Villages entitled to add their names to the Coteaux du Languedoc appellation Côtes du Roussillon Villages D117 Agly D118 St-Paul-de Villages entitled to add their names to Aude Fenouillet Maury Latour-de-France the Côtes du Rousillon appellation 1843 Caramany PERPIGNAN Canet-Plage Collioure and Banyuls Ille-sur-Têt D617 Minervois Têt Prades Limoux N116 Thuir D612 Coteaux du Languedoc PYRENÉESORIENTALES Elne Other AOC regions Pic du Canigou ch 3 Costières de Nîmes Département boundary D618 Te N114 Port-Vendres Mont-Louis 2784 1256 Height above sea level (meters) N116 Corbières 2702 Prats-de- D115 Céret Mollo-la-Preste Cerbère Fitou 0 10 20 30 miles La Jonquera Port-Bou A17 Côtes du Roussillon 0 10 20 30 40 50 km 236 FRANCE unknown part of France to be sidetracked into purchasing it cheaper than and far superior to medium-priced wines bearing outright. The next few years saw the rise of vins de pays, the most famous French appellations. particularly Vin de Pays d’Oc, including those of Domaine de la When BRL Hardy sold Domaine de la Baume to Les Grands Baume, which became a commercial success on the UK market, Chais in 2003, the Australians left this wine region in a far better against the tide for most other inexpensive French wines. During commercial position than they found it 13 years earlier; so the this time, there was an internationalization of grape varieties and French in general, and Les Grands Chais in particular, have no wine styles in the south of France, and, barring some unfortunate excuse if they fail to take Languedoc-Roussillon to the next level experiments in the late 1970s and the 1980s, this development of success. That will require a twin philosophy that does not was far from regrettable. restrict the planting of classic grapes and yet encourages a Some French producers had started putting their own houses resurgence of the most interesting local varieties. in order long before the BRL Hardy purchased Domaine de la Baume. Indeed, a number of domaines began bottling their own wines in the late 1970s, when the government’s vins de pays FACTORS AFFECTING TASTE AND QUALITY program was encouraging quality-conscious growers to reduce yields. The problem was that there were never enough LOCATION VITICULTURE AND “quality-conscious” growers. But those who were formed a HA crescent of vineyards situated JVINIFICATION new generation of elite winemakers. They combined modern in southern France between the This remains the great vin Rhône to the east and the Pyrenees ordinaire region of France, where technology with the best traditional practices, including the use to the southwest. everything is mechanized and the of some aging with new oak, to create exciting new wines in the vines of the plain are farmed like CLIMATE early 1980s. As other growers observed the vastly increased prices wheat or corn. There is a trend FThe Mediterranean-influenced that their pioneering neighbors were attracting, more of them toward developing single-domaine climate is generally well suited to vineyards that have potentially switched from selling in bulk to domaine-bottling, and it was the cultivation of the vine, although expressive terroirs, growing classic this potential that attracted the Australians. it is subject to occasional stormy varieties and combining various It was thus the French who created the newfound pride in weather. Two winds dominate: the traditional methods with modern cold and parching Mistral, which this region, but it was the Australians who grabbed the limelight, techniques. Limoux still practices blows down from the heights of the the ancient méthode rurale—in focusing international attention on the fabulous potential. It is Alpine glaciers, and the wet and Blanquette Méthode Ancestrale almost possible to give consumers an iron-clad guarantee that if warm Marin, which comes in from AOC (see below)—although the they buy ultrapremium cuvées from Languedoc-Roussillon they the sea and can cause rot at harvest majority of the wines are pure time. There are many microclimates will not only be delighted with the wines, but they will also be traditional method and sold under in this collection of isolated vine- the new crémant appellation. growing areas. GRAPE VARIETIES ASPECT RECENT LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON VINTAGES GAspiran Noir, Aspiran Gris, EFamous for its unending tracts Aubun (syn. Counoise), 2003 Higher-altitude appellations, such as Pic-St.-Loup, have fared of flat, vin ordinaire vineyards that Bourboulenc (known in some areas stretch across the vast plains; the as Malvoisie or Tourbat), Cabernet best, but it will be a mishmash of good, bad, and ugly elsewhere, best sites of Languedoc-Roussillon, with a very small scattering of stunning reds. Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan, however, mostly occupy south-, Carignan Blanc, Cinsault, Clairette, southeast-, and east-facing garrigues 2002 The year of the floods, with only those areas that escaped Duras, Fer, Grenache, Grenache and hillsides, or nestle beneath Blanc, Grenache Gris, Lladoner (essentially western and southern extremities, and higher-altitude protective overhanging cliffs. vineyards) managing to produce a decent quality. Pelut, Listan Negra (the black version SOIL of Spain’s Palomino), Malbec, 2001 The best year all around since 1998, with excellent quality DIn general terms, the plains and Macabéo, Marsanne, Merlot, achieved in all styles. valleys have rich alluvial soils, while Mourvèdre, Muscat d’Alexandrie, the hillsides are schist or limestone Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, Muscat 2000 A good, but not great, year in which Roussillon generally fared and the garrigues, or former Doré de Frontignan, Muscat Rosé better than Languedoc. moorlands, are comprised of stony, à Petits Grains, Négrette, Oeillade, carbonaceous soils over fissured Picpoul, Picpoul Noir, Roussanne, 1999 An average year except for Corbières and Minervois, which limestone. However, specific Syrah, Terret, Terret Noir, Ugni excelled and in some cases produced wines of the decade. situations vary enormously. Blanc, Vermentino (syn. Rolle). THE APPELLATIONS OF LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON Note In the following entries, a wine described as BANYULS AOC fruitiness, which is the nearest France gets to vin doux naturel a (or VDN) is made from very The most southerly appellation in France, the the great wines of Portugal’s Douro region.