Languedoc Red Wines — Bold, Authentic & Outstanding Value

The Languedoc-Roussillon is France's largest wine region by area, stretching from the Rhône delta to the Spanish border. For decades, it was synonymous with the production of vast quantities of anonymous vin de table. Today, driven by a generation of ambitious, travel-educated winemakers and the arrival of investors from other regions, it has become arguably France's most exciting and diverse wine region.

The Key Appellations

Pic Saint-Loup: North of Montpellier, in the foothills of the Cévennes, this elevated appellation produces some of the Languedoc's most elegant and concentrated reds. Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvèdre thrive in the cooler conditions.

Faugères: Built on schist soils, Faugères produces intense, mineral wines from Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Carignan. The schist imparts a distinctive savoury quality.

Saint-Chinian: Divided between slate-schist soils to the north (producing structured, mineral wines) and clay-limestone to the south (more supple styles).

Minervois: The first Languedoc appellation to establish an internal hierarchy (La Livinière sub-appellation), producing characterful Grenache and Syrah-based reds.

Corbières: France's largest AOC by area. Quality varies enormously but the best wines — particularly from the Boutenac sub-zone — are exceptional.

La Clape: A limestone massif near the coast, producing distinctive, mineral-edged reds from Grenache and Syrah.

Terrasses du Larzac: Perhaps the Languedoc's most fashionable appellation currently, producing wines of great freshness and complexity from elevated limestone plateaus. A source of some of our most exciting new discoveries.

The Grape Varieties

→    Grenache: The dominant variety, producing warm, generous, spiced wines

→    Syrah: Adds colour, tannin, and northern-Rhône-style pepper character

→    Mourvèdre: The most complex and age-worthy variety in the south, requiring heat to ripen fully

→    Carignan: Long dismissed but now recognised (particularly old vines) for its remarkable character: earthy, mineral, intensely flavoured

→    Cinsault: Used to add freshness and floral notes to blends, and increasingly valued in its own right

Our Approach to the Languedoc

We seek out producers who have a clear vision — whether biodynamic vignerons committed to terroir expression or young winemakers experimenting with amphora and skin-contact techniques. The common thread is quality and authenticity: wines that taste of where they come from.