Name (also Carthagène) for a sweet and high-alcohol vin de l iqueur (fortified wine) from the French Languedoc. Alcohol is added to the unfermented white or red grape must to stop fermentation. As a rule, it consists of 80% grape must and 20% brandy. The must must come from at least 50% Grenache Noir (Garnacha Tinta) or Grenache Blanc (Garnacha Blanca). The alcohol content is usually between 16 and 18% vol., the residual sugar content 150 g/l. In some cases, various flavouring ingredients are used, such as vanilla, but no sugar. Cartagène is drunk as an aperitif or digestif for personal consumption. Recognition as an AOC under the name "Cartagène du Languedoc" was applied for at the INAO in 1989, but this was not (yet) granted.
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Egon Mark
Diplom-Sommelier, Weinakademiker und Weinberater, Volders (Österreich)