[lahng-DAWK roo-see-YAWN] Also referred to as the Midi, this huge region is located in southern France along the Mediterranean. It consists of over 800,000 vineyard acres spread through four French départements-aude Gard, l'hérault and Pyrénées-Orientales-which produce about one-third of the total French wine-grape crop, and close to 250 million to 300 million cases of wine. The region is well suited to grape growing, but, unfortunately, the many Languedoc-Roussillon growers have been more concerned with quantity than quality, which means that most of the wines are very ordinary. The majority (almost 90 percent) of the wine here is red, made primarily from carignan, cinsault and grenache. To improve quality, mourvèdre, syrah and even cabernet sauvignon and merlot are being used as replacements for high-yielding, lower-quality grapes like Carignan. Improved vinification techniques are also being encouraged. Although most of the wine produced here is vin ordinaire, there are numerous vin de pays wines. There are also a growing number of appellation d'origine contrôlée areas including banyuls blanquette de limoux, collioure, corbières, costières de nîmes, coteaux du languedoc, côtes du roussillon, faugères, fitou, maury, minervois, muscat de frontignan, muscat de rivesaltes, and saint-chinian.

Wine Lover's Companion. Copyright © 2003 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.