News: The long of the Languedoc
Year 16, No. 09
Highlights: Languedoc 2026
I’ll probably live to regret saying this, but there are few things in the wine world that intimidate me at this point. Well, okay, small-production orange wines I’ll always find terrifying as you just never know what you’re gonna get and more often than not, they’ll lurch at you violently from the shadows.
Otherwise, I’ve found that there’s always a way to approach a wine region no matter how large, famous, onerous, or historic it may be. Sometimes, it requires a bit of creative thinking as I fully admit that a region such as Rioja is a place where I’m always working on better ways to do quality tastings from as many of the 600 wineries in the region as possible… in a compressed timeframe.
That said, the region of Languedoc has long-proven to be something a bit tough to bite off. Why? Well, it’s the largest wine region in France in terms of production. In fact, in all of Europe, it’s the second largest, with only Castilla-La Mancha producing more wine, albeit with a surface area three times larger than Languedoc.
This is why when I was invited to a week-long tasting of the Languedoc wines, it seemed a good opportunity to accept. It was a week that meant someone else would be in charge of constructing a manner to taste through these wines that emerge from the 230,000ha of vineyards running up and down this strip of the Mediterranean.
The end result is the latest Tasting Report and it’s one where I definitely discovered new things. For starters, Tom Gilbey’s funny, yet very cutting statement that the region used to be a tremendous producer of “toilet water” is of course not the case. There are some truly excellent wines within the massive smattering of appellations. That said, there are those that challenge you as well and it’s all covered in the report along with tasting notes for over 300 wines.
In the general happenings of the great wine world, Sergei Panov wrote up a fine piece covering the issues around a surprise vote to allow the Russian Sommelier Association back into the greater International Sommelier Association. They were rightfully expelled when Russia fully invaded Ukraine in 2022, but there are countless other issues that should have seen them expelled even earlier which Panov has done a fine job writing up.
And of course it seems I can’t put out a single newsletter these days without a mention of something happening in the world of Corpinnat. In this case, it’s that they’ve just announced (*) a new member, Mas Vilella which brings them one shy of a proper two dozen members at this point. They’ve come a long, long way in a very short time. How? By making quality wine and practicing quality viticulture. Crazy, right?!
Drink well, be well.
-Miquel
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The Featured Report
Languedoc Report
A vast region, with truly every type of wine produced within its boundaries, here we take a look at just where things currently sit in France’s juggernaut of wine production.
And now this
It’s always a good time for Godello, especially when it’s one such as the Cepas Viejas from Dominio de Tares in DO Bierzo.
When one is in the mood for just about any kind of wine, there are producers like Famille Quiot that make just about everything in the Rhône and do it very well.
An exciting new look at Hispano Suizas down in València who are making ever-finer wines and this time around, their sparkling wines are of special note.
Also, when in Rhône, one makes just about everything that’s within view of the winery and on the best, do it well, such as with Domaine de la Mordorée.
Maybe it’s the time of year for a white from Rioja and if so, how about the Viña Salceda Entresierras?