The Coteaux du Languedoc vineyard forms a vast amphitheatre overlooking the Mediterranean, stretching from Narbonne to Nimes. Greek and Etruscan colonists first planted vines in the sixth century B.C: they had discovered the ideal climate and land to cultivate vines.
The initial markets for the wine enjoyed both success and failure over centuries, but the breakthrough came in 1680 with Paul Riquet’s Canal du Midi, providing vital routes for transportation.
Causses et Veyran’s own Mayor, Jules Milhau defined the first Vins de Qualite Superieur in 1945, and in 1982 St Chinian and Faugeres were given the all important A.O.C. status.
15,600 hectares of vineyards today form the Coteaux du Languedoc with 168 communes, and the l’Appellation d’Origine Controlee of St Chinian with 20 communes (including Causses et Veyran) and Faugeres with 7 communes (including Autignac) are respected throughout France for excellent production of wine.
To meet the strict regulations of the A.O.C a wine must meet the following criteria:
The grapes must be grown in a precisely defined geographical zone.
The vineyard management must be aid down by decree.
The wine must be made from named grapes and in the proportions described in the text of 24 December 1985
The vineyards of St Chinian and Faugeres will welcome you to their Domaines, and offer you a free tasting of their excellent wines. In the region the red wine has traditionally been 70% of production, with Rose and White 15% each, but new grape varieties and production methods are changing these percentages rapidly.
Both Causses et Veyran and Autignac are wine making villages, and in the wine harvesting moth of September the excitement is tangible.