About the languedoc region
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Wine
Languedoc-Roussillon wine making
Languedoc-Roussillon is the largest vine growing area in the world. From the Rhône to Spain, the wine region is several times bigger than the Australian wine region or Bordeaux.
The main grapes used in Languedoc Roussillon are:
Red: Carignan, Cinsault, Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot have replaced other mediocre grape varieties such as Aramon and Alicante.
White: Macabeu, Clairette, Roussanne, Marsanne, Ugni blanc, Bourboulenc. Viognier and Chardonnay have been introduced with success in Languedoc Roussillon. Chardonnay is now the most widely used grape in the region.
Sweet white wine: Muscat blanc, Muscat romain or d'Alexandrie and Grenache
At the beginning of the 70s, it became clear that the region was not ready for the changing wine market. The quantity exceeded the demand. The quality was mediocre. The price too expensive compare to Italian, Spain and now new wine countries. Languedoc Roussillon wine makers had to change or their wine region would die. They began to use new techniques such as aging the wine in oak barrel. They replaced poor quality grape varieties with noble grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, Chardonnay and Viognier. They selected the best vineyards and decided to go for quality. Today, Languedoc Roussillon is one of the most successful wine regions in France.
The Languedoc-Roussillon region is dominated by 740,300 acres of vineyards, three times the comibned area of the vineyards in Bordeaux. The Mediterranean climate and plentiful land with soil ranging from rocky sand to thick clay was very suitable for the production of wine, and it is estimated that one in ten bottles of the world's wine was produced in this region during the 20th century (Robinson 1999:395). Despite this enormous quantity, the area's significance was often overlooked by scholarly publications and commercial journals, largely due to the fact that very little of the wine being produced was classified under an appellation contrôlée until the 1980s (Joseph 2005:190).
Several entrepreneurs like Robert Skalli and James Herrick drastically changed the face of the region, planting more commercially viable grape varieties and pushing for new AOC classifications. While the AOC system has origins in the 15th Century, the Languedoc-Rousillon has some appelations like the Cabardes which have only existed by law since 1999 (Joseph 2005:190).
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