Languedoc has a special role in French wine production. It was here, around 150 B.C., that the first vine was planted in France. Narbo (Norbonne) was the first Roman colony and the vice king Domitius Ahenobarbus came to govern the area. At the time it was a shortage of wine in Rome so he encourages the warriors coming back from the second Punian war to settle down in Narbo and start growing vine to export to Rome. He also builds a special road all the way from Spain to cater for the transport – Via Domitia.

It is really hard to choose the best vineyards of Languedoc as there are so many. I know however that those places every tourist goes to seldom are the best. A typical disappointment was Terra Vinea outside Portel that looks fantastic on all the ads one can find at the side of all roads in the south of Languedoc. In my opinion it is very much like Disneyworld without having the unique presence of Mickey Mouse. The wines are all right but not great considering the prize.

Another place I would not recommend is Cave de Mont Tauch in Tuchan that is the centre of the Fitou area. AOC Fitou are excellent wines much like the Corbières wines, but try to go to one of the independent producers to get them. This producer is enormous and the staff is, I guess, all employed and very little interested in you as a customer. Rather go to the little village south of Tuchan and visit Domaine Bertrand-Bergé which is an excellent producer of Fitou wines. You will be received by the patron himself and get a very warm welcoming. The wines are among the top in the area.

When you are in this southern part of Corbiéres Mountains you should visit Cave Cooperative d’Embres-et-Castelmaure which is one of the very best producers you can find. The wines are fabulous, especially if you have the patience to save them a few years. Just today we had one of their most simple wines, the Vieux Chapelle from 2001 and, believe it or not, this low prize wine was still excellent. It had matured into something much better than the prize would ever promise. I brought a bottle of their Castelmaure, Grand Cuvée, 2003 back to my wine club in Sweden. They were delighted and said they had never had such a delicious wine before. That wine is not even one of the more expensive ones. This is one of the producers that sell more matured wines as well, but you have to pay for the time they have kept it. It is a much better idea to buy the most recent wine and save it yourself for a few years. No shares on the stock market would gain higher value that fast.

If you are in this southern part and maybe are on your way to Spain I think you should take a detour to Collioure. This is the centre of Banyuls, which is a delicious dessert wine originally made by the Templiers. The reason I advice you to go is however the red wine AOC Collioure which is of extremely high quality. I do not have any particular producer to advice of as I have only had these wines in restaurants. They are a little expensive, but you understand why when you see those old suffering, not more than a few decimetre high, vines scattered on a barren slope that can not give a very high yield. I guess this is the smallest appellation in Languedoc-Roussillon.

I have only been talking about red wines but there are fantastic rose wines in this area as well. One of the best, as I see it, is Château Pech-Redon on top of the mountain Pech Redon in La Clape. Just to take the road up to the chateau is worth the trip. The view is fantastic and the landscape beautiful.

Other excellent rose wine producers are Château Voulte Gasparet in Gasparet, Domaine de Fontsainte in Boutenac, Cave Co-operative de Cascastel in Cascastel des Corbières and many others. These vineyards also have excellent red wines.

I will soon come back with more information on great wines in Languedoc. Among other things I will introduce you to the amazing sweet wine of Château de la Peyrade.