T
W
HE
LARGEST VINEYARD
IN
THE
ORLD
Le vignoble à Corneilhan
THE TERROIRS AND GRAPE VARIETIES
The vineyards of the Languedoc are spread mainly
across 3 departments, from the Aude to the Gard,
passing through the Hérault and from there stretching
as far as the Pyréneés-Orientales, all with a new
regional appellation zone, Languedoc AOC.
This area hosts a wide and diverse array of different
terroirs. Each has its own soil, climate and diversity
of grape varieties which are assembled in different
ways to make unique wines, embodying the many
contrasts of the region, from the dramatic foothills
of the Pyrenees and the Massif Central to the gentle
coastline of the Mediterranean.
Near the sea, the soils tend to be sandy,
calcareous or even clayey. As the landscape begins
to give rise to small hills and valleys, the soils
comprise more schist or marl with vast terraces
of pebbles and shingle. The climate is generally
Mediterranean but the further you go inland, the
more the climates become oceanic. The varieties
of grapes in the Languedoc vineyards show just
as much diversity.
Alongside the most well-known of these, like
Shiraz, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Cinsault, there
are other less well-known varieties (for example,
Cot, Malbec, Chenin and Rolle).
This is why the wine-growers of Languedoc understand
that they have not one, but multiple terroirs.
The last 30 years have seen a profound restructuring
of the vineyards to develop typically Mediterranean
varieties and to better adapt traditional varieties, but
also the classification of different terroirs, complete
mastery of the wine-making process and diverse
research, ensuring an offer of fine, structured wines.
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