Languedoc Wine
21/02/2011 by Daybase.
For decades Languedoc has produced wine on the plains between the mountains and the sea and is responsible for much of the French table wine or house wine offered by restaurants here in the UK. To be brutally honest the critics have not always been very kind and it is a sad fact that quantity often appeared to be the aim rather than quality and with the arrival of the “New World” wines and inorived wine production and quality control from vineyards worldwide (even here in the UK) the reputation of Lanuguedocienne wine slipped further.
Changes in the EEC subsidies, the mystery that will always be the Common Agriculture Policy and the infamous “wine lakes” mean that hectare after hectare of vines have been “grubbed up” which I am told is the correct term for turning the land away from wine in favour of food or grain production or even away from agriculture entirely.
Of course the wine industry hasn’t ceased entirely, this is France we are talking about and the Languedoc still makes a significant contribution to the billions of bottle wine exported annually. The difference in quality, however, is startling and more and more often wines produced in our favourite area of France are proving favourites with the critics too winning awards, plaudits and “wine of the week” nominations.
Last week, David Williams in the observer was impressed by the Paul Mas Vermentino PGI Pays d’Oc, Languedoc 2009 praising “the prolific and highly talented winemaker Jean-Claude Mas”. Another white that met with David’s favour was the Laurent Miquel Vendanges Nocturnes Viognier Languedoc 2009. Cabernet Sauvignon, Domaine Saissac, Vin de Pays d’Oc, 2008 too was a winner described by the writer as irresistable.
Moving on to the reds he suggets La Devèze Rouge, Côtes du Roussillon Villages, Vieilles Vignes, Languedoc Roussillon and his comments about the red wines of the region as a whole “There is an untamed quality to the best southern French reds that this wine.. has in spades” and in true Languedoc cuisine style he ends “ideal bottle to drink with a rosemary-and-garlic-heavy leg of lamb or a rich cassoulet”. Observer 13 Feb 2011
The week before David selected Mont Tauch Les Garrigues Grande Reserve Grenache Noir 2010, Fitou, Languedoc as one of his three wines of the week with its “smooth and warming, with a succulent plummy character” Observer 6 Feb 2011
The Green movement, whatever you thoughts for or against, is growing and Languedoc id firmly at the centre of the move to organic wine production. Helped by its ideal climate there are now nearly 800 organic wine producers in the region contributing around a third of the entire organic production of France. So one of the oldest wine producing regions in the country is embracing new ideas (or returning to the old ones) and producing quality wines once again.
