The Vines & Wines of Languedoc

It’s not hard to find French wine on top wine lists and shelves around our city. Usually, there are entire sections dedicated to bottles from Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne and even the Rhône Valley. But France is not just these major regions. In fact, the country is full of lesser-known vineyard areas that are producing wines worth discovering. You just have to work a little harder to find them.

This is the reality for the wines of the Languedoc region in Southern France, an area rich in history, culture, biodiversity and styles of wine. From the second century B.C. and the establishment of the Roman Via Domitia – which connected Italy to Spain – to the modern day, vines have been thriving here.

Yet despite the strategic importance of this region and its wine production dating back to the Romans, Languedoc is often overshadowed by other well-marketed wine-producing areas in the South of France. However, with consumers focusing more and more on sustainability and organic practices, which are abundant in this region, it’s time we pay more attention to the vines and the wines of the Languedoc.

A Region Full of Wine History

The Languedoc region is home to the very first sparkling wine and sweet fortified wines, even before the production of Champagne and port from Portugal. During the Middle Ages, a physician/alchemist in Montpellier named Arnaud de Villeneuve discovered the art of “mutage,” or adding a distilled spirit to grape must in order to create a sweet “fortified wine.” This was in 1285, around 400 years before port was made.

The region of Limoux, located in the Languedoc, is credited with being the birthplace of sparkling wine. During the 1540s, a monk discovered bubbles forming in a bottle that he had corked while making wine, suggesting the process of a second fermentation. It was here in the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Hilaire that Blanquette de Limoux, or the first sparkling wine, was created. Limoux went on to become the first controlled appel

lation in Languedoc, and one of the first appellations in France by decree in 1938.

Phylloxera devastated the vineyards across Europe throughout the late 1800s. But it was the Languedoc region where vines were first replanted on resistant American rootstock. By 1900, the area was France’s top supplier of wine, even while other regions struggled to regain healthy vines. The Languedoc became known as a region of cheap, widely accessible wines, as the focus became the quantity, not quality, of wines. In the 21st century, this reputation is changing.

Of Soil & Soul

Modern winemaking and vineyard management in the Languedoc is largely focused on sustainability. Because the region experiences a mild Mediterranean climate with limited rainfall and about 316 days of sun a year – in addition to winds blowing from every direction keeping the moisture down – vines can grow easily here without the looming threat of many diseases.

This favorable grape-growing climate allows for growers to focus more on organic and biodynamic farming practices. The Languedoc boasts the highest number of certified organic wine producers in the country, and the largest certified organic area under vine.

The complex geology of this area of the world leads to a diverse range of soils, from volcanic to alluvial, and limestone soils called “garrigue.” All of these soil types contribute to varying characteristics of the wines emerging across the Languedoc – from the vineyards closest to the Mediterranean to the western appellations in the mountains.

A sense of place is important to each of the individual smaller AOPs (Appellation d’Origine Protégée) throughout the larger area, as they shape their identities and characteristics in a competitive global market.

At the forefront of the biodynamic movement in the Languedoc is winemaker Gérard Bertrand. His philosophy of nature first and a commitment to biodynamic viticulture since 2002 has been a leading force in the region. Currently, all of his vineyard sites are under biodynamic farming, and all will be certified under the strict Demeter standards by 2023.

Since 2018, Bertrand has engaged in 25 partnerships with winegrowers in their conversion to organic agriculture, and his commitment to preserving the land of the region continues through other sustainable initiatives. He expresses his sentiments about biodynamics in his new book, “Nature at Heart,” in which he writes: “This approach, which respects the soil (with the practice of polyculture) to protect biodiversity and the longevity of ecosystems, is also philosophical, in that it develops a more profound understanding of the living world.”