The northern part of the Languedoc-Roussillon region in the deep south of France on the Mediterranean coast. From north to south-west, it comprises the three departments of Gard, Hérault and Aude. The much smaller Roussillon in the department of Pyrénées-Orientales adjoins to the west, with the wine-growing regions of Provence and Rhône to the east. The name is derived from "langue d'oc", which means "language of the Oc" (oc = yes). This Occitan language was spoken south of the Loire in the Middle Ages; "langue d'oil" was spoken to the north ("oui" developed from "oil").

Territorial reform

The regions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées were merged in 2016 to form the new political region of Occitania (Occitanie in French). A sparkling wine was produced here long before the much more famous champagne, today's Blanquette de Limoux. Cartagène is a special form of high-alcohol, sweet vin de liqueur in Languedoc. Until the 1980s, the Languedoc had a reputation as a wine-growing region that mainly produced cheap mass-produced wine. From the beginning of the 1990s, there were EU-sponsored grubbing-up programmes. This led to an extremely large reduction in vineyards in just 10 years.

Vineyards, climate & soil

The vineyards cover over 200,000 hectares of vines. They extend over 200 kilometres, mostly close to the Mediterranean coast, from Nimes with the AOC Costières de Nîmes, which is part of the Rhône region under wine law, in the east to Narbonne with Limoux and Corbières in the west. Most of it lies on low-lying alluvial soil, and this is also where most of the land was cleared. The vineyards in the foothills of the Pyrenees in the west, a few hundred metres above sea level, lie on slate and limestone slopes. As in the Roussillon area, the climate is Mediterranean with dry and hot summers. The division of the vineyards according to quality levels:

Grape varieties

The most important red wine varieties are Grenache Noir (Garnacha Tinta), Mourvèdre (Monastrell) and Syrah; secondary varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan Noir (Mazuelo),...