Languedoc

We will never know if it was the Greeks or Romans that planted the France’s first vineyards, but we know that they were planted in Languedoc, strangely not in Provence which is closer. It is in Languedoc that Hand Picked Selections has chosen to concentrate our efforts with French wines. This is not for historical reasons.

Traditionally Languedoc has been France’s largest and worst wine region. It is the home of ‘gros rouge’, a rough, tannic 11% alcohol red wine that was the caloric staple of blue collar France. Workers would drink 2 to as many as 5 bottles a day. As this clientele disappears (from dwindling blue collar employment, old age and liver failure) production has plunged. Subsidies for these growers have been cut, leaving them unable to earn a living. They continue to riot for more money, but the reality is that their time has passed.

Some have switched to other crops. Others have left their vineyards for jobs in the cities. However the smartest, most tenacious and ambitious of these growers (there are a lot of them) have upgraded their vineyards. In some cases they simply replanted where they were with better varietals, cropping for lower yields. In other cases they sold their land on the plains and purchased virgin territory in the hills, where a more moderate climate and steeper slopes (better ‘terroir’ in the French word) make production of good, fine and occasionally great wines possible.

With terroirs fully comparable to those of the southern Rhone and Provence (and in a few special cases, the Northern Rhone), it was only a matter of time until quality began to catch up with the neighbors. First signs appeared in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s. The French government did not just cut subsidies and leave the growers to fend for themselves – after all, they were voters. A massive, well-organized program was started to transform the impoverished vineyards of the Midi into a world resource for good everyday wine. There have been some stumbles along the way but overall the program has been a remarkable success.

The first necessity was to replace the bad old varietals. Plantings of Alicante, Aramon and Baco Noir (the American hybrid brought in after phylloxera) declined dramatically. Much Carignan was also uprooted. Carignan can make fine wine under the right circumstances – good terroir, old vines, low yields – but the vineyards taken out were of poor quality. They were planted on the blazing plains and irrigated to produce yields of 10 tons per acre or more.

The replacements initially were the major international varietals, Merlot first along with Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. For the most part these were planted in better terroirs than the uprooted vineyards, but often not in terroirs good enough for the quality demanded by today’s consumers. In particular there was a lot of weedy Merlot and flabby Chardonnay. These in turn are now being replanted to more appropriate varietals and/or in better places.

Although Languedoc will always be home to substantial quantities of Chardonnay and Merlot (now mostly in appropriate sites), more recent plantings have concentrated on indigenous varietals, mostly Syrah and Grenache. Some Mourvedre is also being planted, along with Viognier, Roussanne, Marsanne and Rolle (the Italian Vermentino) for whites. A few brave souls are putting in Carignan again – but only in good terroirs.

Through the ‘80’s and ‘90’s quality improved dramatically. The ill-planned vineyards producing mediocre international varietals have mostly been replaced. A majority of the wines of Languedoc went by stages from dubious, to acceptable, to good or better.

In the early to mid ‘90’s when phylloxera decimated many California vineyards, French ‘fighting varietals’ gained a great deal of market share in the U.S., in some cases using labels of California producers whose supplies had been cut (Seagram’s Monterey Vineyards was one example). With a massive wine glut in California, a relatively weak dollar and some small but persistent boycotts of French products, this market has greatly diminished but not disappeared.

Today Languedoc grows the equivalent of 215 million cases of wine annually, about the same volume as California. Almost 40% of this is still Vin de Table (‘gros rouge’). This leaves over 125 million cases of wine for a thirsty world, most of it of sound quality with increasing quantities of good, fine and occasionally great bottles.

The gulf between good and great wine is enormous. There has always been far more good wine than fine wine; fine wine than great wine. The costs of producing great wine (assuming the grower has the terroir and the skills) are such that great wines are always expensive. There are increasing amounts of fine and great wine grown in Languedoc but the overwhelming importance of the region to wine lovers are the vast quantities of good inexpensive wines. This is where Hand Picked Selections earns its living.

Supermarkets, restaurants and wine shops worldwide offer a great range of these wines. Half are Vins de Pays made from international varietals. The remaining half are split between Vins de Pays made from Mediterranean grapes or blended from several varietals, and Appellation Controlee wines made from Mediterranean grapes. The large majority of these wines are red (“The first duty of a wine is to be red.” – old British saying). However there are a surprising and increasing number of good whites from the higher, cooler vineyards. Not to be ignored are the gorgeous dry rosés, phenomenally popular where they grow and increasingly finding a market in the U.S. as consumers Swear Great Oaths to Renounce White Zinfandel (aka pink sugar-water with some alcohol).

The wines of Languedoc are a tremendous resource for consumers worldwide. Prices for good artisan wines are competitive with prices for wines from the major multinational drinks companies. The difference is in the character – it may not be too much to say the soul – of the wines. The independent Languedoc growers we represent love their work, and that love shines through their wines.