Special to The Washington Post
Americans are always looking for something new. So it might seem strange to look to France -- the stodgy, hidebound homeland of fine wine, with its rigid classifications and appellation laws -- as a source of innovation in wine. Yet the southern provinces of Languedoc and Roussillon have shown tremendous improvement in quality over the past decade, and they remain a great source of high-value wine at reasonable prices.
Languedoc and Roussillon have a reputation for producing massive quantities of inferior wine. With modern winemaking techniques and capital, these regions still produce boatloads, but the cheap wine is getting better. In part that's because big French wine names from other regions are investing in Languedoc's cheap vineyard land to produce bargain wines that anchor their portfolios.
The real excitement lies in the various sub-appellations of Languedoc and Roussillon, such as Corbieres, Faugeres, Fitou, Saint-Chinian, Minervois and Cabardes, and the broader Coteaux du Languedoc. Here, the traditional Rhone Valley grapes of grenache, syrah, mourvedre, carignan and cinsault feature in various combinations, often with a splash of cabernet or merlot for added interest.
The French magazine La Revue du Vin de France lavished patronizing praise on Languedoc in its July-August issue. "No other region in France has made as much progress as the wines of Languedoc over the past 10 years," the magazine said. The wonderful 1998 vintage surprised "local vintners" with the potential of their formidable terroirs, and, in the decade since, improvements in blending and aging their wines have enabled a few leading domaines to shake off the inferiority complex that haunts the region. So the magazine says.
La RVF, as it calls itself, listed what its tasters considered the best 100 red wines from Languedoc. I decided to explore Languedoc wines available here.
Some of the wines I would call "modernized traditional": modernized in that the quality is high, traditional in that alcohol levels stay under 14 percent. An example of this style is the delightful Ermitage du Pic St. Loup Cuvee Sainte Agnes 2005 from Coteaux du Languedoc ($23), imported by Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant of Berkeley, Calif. It is fresh and herbaceous, with herbal notes of the "garrigue" -- that heady mix of aromas that conjures southern France -- and an appealing citrusy note of orange peel. The 2006 of this wine ranked 57th on the RVF list.
