Languedoc is often mistaken as a vast homogenous region for budget wines. While it’s true to some extent, there are also many premier villages for excellent wines at reasonable prices: Corbieres, Pic Saint Loup, Faugères,... Read More
Beaumes-de-Venise (bom deh ven-eez) is not famous for Rhône rouge, but rather for a deliciously sweet vin doux naturel that gained AOC Classification back in 1943—more than 60 years before the village was granted Cru... Read More
Domaine de Fenouillet has been producing wine in the village of Beaumes-de-Venise (one of the classified Rhône villages) for 100 years, and brothers Patrick and Vincent Soard have expanded production to include southerly... Read More
Sophie, Jean-Marc, and their daughter Maude (representing the fifth generation) cultivate 30 hectares: 12.5 in Sablet, 3.5 within Gigondas, and 14 classified as Côtes du Rhône. La Grange is made from 45-year-old vines... Read More
Hauvette has a nondescript label offering virtually no information about this obscure Provençal wine. Let's start with the region. Indication Géographique Protégée Alpilles is located within Parc... Read More
La Pinede comes from one of the more enigmatic corners of France, French Catalonia, along the Mediterranean and the Pyrenees. If you're a Tour de France cyclist, Domaine La Tour Vieille in Collioure is a short bike ride through... Read More
Elevated from a Côtes du Rhône Villages to its own AOC in 1990, Vacqueyras is appreciated for yielding concentrated, age-worthy wines at moderate prices -- especially compared to its neighbors next door in Gigondas... Read More
Located right next door to Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Gigondas, Vacqueyras [vah-kay-rahz] is an area where some of the greatest values can be found. Elevated from a Côtes du Rhône Villages to an AOC in 1990, Vacqueyras... Read More
Since Joel Saurel raised his estate to the highest ranks of the southern Rhône, Saint-Damien VV Gigondas is not readily available. There's a case here and a case there, but when this stellar vintage is gone, we will... Read More
This region in Languedoc gets its name from a crusader turned hermit, Saint Thieri Loup, and a limestone peak ('Pic') that overlooks a rocky landscape of vineyards--but none of this is important. Do you like chewy, rustic,... Read More
Made by the Brunier family since the turn of the 20th century, La Crau is their grand cru, 156-acre vineyard of old vines. Considered the finest vineyards in the AOC, Le Crau is a stone-filled plateau located in the southeast... Read More
