Languedoc-Roussillon Flashcards
What is the Languedoc-Roussillon known for? How is that changing?
Massive bulk vine plantings for table wine, which are slowly being replaced with quality vines.
Where are the quality wine regions of Languedoc clustered?
In the west.
What rules govern the Corbières AOC?
red, rosé, & a little white, all blends of at least 2 allowed grapes, from a variety of soils & microclimates
What subzone of Corbières has its own AOC?
Boutenac, for carignan-based red blends.
What AOP lies directly north of Corbières?
Minervois AOP
Where is Fitou located and what are its subregions?
What kind of wine does Fitou make?
Fitou is embedded in Corbières, and is divided between
Fitou Maritime & Fitou Montagneux.
Red blends focused on carignan
What is the oldest Languedoc AOP? When was it established?
Fitou, in 1948
What does Sable de Camargue produce?
As of 2023 it’s an AOP showcasing gris wines from grenache
What kinds of wines are made in Minervois? What about the smaller AOP embedded within Minervois?
red, white, & rosé. La Livinière is at the heart of Minervois & makes red blends and has been its own AOP since 1999
Where are the Cabardès & Malepère AOPs located?
What do they produce?
In the Languedoc. They both produce red & rosé wines only.
Cabardès balances grenache & syrah with bordeaux varieties.
Malepère makes reds based on merlot & rosés based on cabernet franc.
Where are the Saint-Chinian and Faugères AOPs located? What do they produce?
In the Languedoc. They produce red, white, & rosé wines based on southern French grapes.
What are the 3 new developments for the Saint Chinian AOP?
Allowing for production of white wine, and 2 specific red-only subzones, Berlou & Roquebrun
Where is Limoux located and what are its AOPs?
South of Cabardès & Malepère.
Limoux AOP
Blanquette de Limoux AOP
Cremant de Limoux AOP
What rules govern the Limoux AOP?
reds must be merlot based.
Still whites must be from chard, chenin, & mauzac, and fermented in oak.
What is Limoux’s signature grape? What are its two notable productions within the Limoux AOP?
Mauzac!
Blaquette de Limoux must be 90% Mauzac (+chard & chenin), and traditional method.
Limoux Method Ancestral must be 100% Mauzac
What is Limoux’s more modern, traditional method sparkling wine AOP? What are its rules?
Crémant de Limoux.
Max 90% Chard & Chenin, + 20% max Mauzac & Pinot Noir.
Standard traditional method, 9mo on lees, 12mo total, hand harvesting, minimum 3.5 atm pressure.
What is the Languedoc Roussillon’s umbrella AOP? How many geographic designations does it include? What are its basic wines generally?
Languedoc AOP, including 11 geographic designations.
Includes red, white, rosé, with reds usually majority GSM & Lladoner pelut, but this varies by designation.
Is a grand cru system likely in the Languedoc in the future? What developments are there in the meantime?
Yes, there have been talks of organizing it into a cru hierarchy.
In the meantime, Languedoc geographic designations are being promoted, such as Terrasses du Larzac in 2014, & La Clape in 2015.
What are the Languedoc’s 4 fortified wine appellations?
Muscat de Mireval AOP
Muscat de Lunel AOP
Muscat de Saint Jean de Minervois AOP
Muscat de Frontignan AOP
What’s notable about Muscat de Frontignan?
It’s the most common of the Languedoc’s 4 fortified wines, and it can be VDN or vin de liqueur
What is Roussillon most known for? How much of france’s does it produce?
Vins Doux Naturels, it produces 90% of France’s fortified wines.
What is the biggest producer of fortified wine in Roussillon?
The Rivesaltes AOP
What does Rivesaltes mean in Catalan?
High riverbanks
What kind of wine does Rivesaltes produce? What colors and styles do they correspond to?
ambré, grenat, tuilé, & rosé VDNs; they can be varietal or blends
ambré & tuilé are amber & tawny, aged oxidatively for 3 years before bottling. In practice these can be aged extensively after the minimum, either in glass bottles or solera.
grenat is red grenache, aged reductively for 1 year prior to bottling
hors d’age is aged for at least 5 years, sometimes up to 20
muscat de rivesaltes AOP can be a blend of muscat of alexandria & a petit grains, is sweeter than other VDNs, and is best consumed young for aromatic freshness.
When, where, & by whom was VDN invented?
In the 13th century in Rivesaltes by Dr. Arnaud de Villeneuve, who used mutage to make medicinal elixers for his patients.
What are the 2 notable non-Rivesaltes VDN AOPs in Roussillon? What are their rules?
Maury & Banyuls
Maury allows all colors of grenache for all colors of VDN
Banyuls requires 50% grenache noir for its traditional bottling and 75% grenache noir for its grand cru AOP
What are the rules for Banyuls Grand Cru AOP?
75% grenache noir
30 months oak aging
What are the rules for vintage dated Banyuls?
Must be bottled within 1 year and labeled rimage.
What is considered the best Roussillon VDN?
Banyuls: richest, fullest bodied, most consistently quality-minded.
Can Maury produce non-fortified wines under its AOP?
Yes, as of 2011 it can produce dry reds.
Can Banyuls produce non-fortified wines under its AOP?
No, producers can release still reds, whites, & rosés under the Collioure AOP.
What is the Roussillon’s regional appellation? What can & does it produce?
Cotes-de-Roussillon, producing mostly rosé
What kind of wine is Cotes-de-Roussillon Villages? How many communes are included? What are the named villages?
Red wines only.
50 villages can use the village descriptor on their wines labels.
Latour-de-France, Caramany, Les Aspres, Lesquerde, & Tautavel.
In what ways is Roussillon changing as a wine region?
Producers are starting to take dry wine production more seriously by rethinking carignan, trimming yields, and discover old vines.
How much of France’s AOP wine does Languedoc-Roussillon produce? What is the rest of its wine labeled as?
10%, much of the rest is Pays d’Oc IGP
