Roussillon myth busting
Matt Walls addresses five erroneous but enduring ideas about the region of Roussillon, its climate and its wines.
If there were a prize for the most misunderstood wine region, Sherry would probably win every year. But the Roussillon would come a close second.
It’s largely down to prejudice I suspect – people making assumptions about its climate or its unusual grape varieties. There are also some stubborn misunderstandings about the region’s geography and culture. And sometimes wine lovers just aren’t up to date with contemporary wines.
Since returning from a visit to the region in the spring, I’ve heard several of these inaccurate old assertions being repeated. So let’s put a few things straight.
Claim 1: The Roussillon is part of the Languedoc in the south of France
These two regions have long been spoken about in the same breath, but the Roussillon has a distinct history and culture, and should be considered a region apart. It’s far smaller for a start, making less than 10% the volume of wine of the Languedoc.
“The Languedoc is a fantastic region – but it’s completely different to us,” one top winemaker said. He went on to explain that if a UK importer sold Roussillon wines under the heading of ‘Languedoc-Roussillon’ he would decline to work with them, as it showed a lack of understanding.
There might be some mountains in the way, but these wines share more of a kinship with the Grenache- and Carignan-based bottles of Catalonia. The local people I spoke to often described themselves as Catalan first, and French second – and the wines are too.
Claim 2: Roussillon reds are big, powerful and alcoholic
They can be. But not all Roussillon reds are big, boozy bruisers by any means. Techniques such as whole bunch fermentation, submerged cap, carbonic maceration and biodynamic viticulture are being used by forward-thinking winemakers to focus on finesse. Plenty of high-altitude vineyard land helps to bring the freshness too.
Claim 3: It’s too hot and dry to make white wines with finesse in the Roussillon
The Roussillon has a hot, dry climate but you wouldn’t think so when tasting their whites. Rather than being hot and flabby, they often have a zesty freshness and mineral edge. The key is plentiful plantings of Grenache Gris, a wonderful variety that has more structure and crispness than Grenache Blanc. There’s renewed interest in Carignan Blanc and Carignan Gris for the same reason.
Claim 4: Carignan makes rustic, inelegant wines
Not always. The pure Carignans of Domaine Spiaggia, Domaine du Lendemain and Domaine Danjou-Banessy show just how graceful Carignan can be in the right hands. Seriously old vines make a difference; Lendemain’s survived phylloxera in the late 1800s and are still producing today.
Claim 5: AOP wines are better than IGP wines
In some regions this is usually the case, but don’t ignore IGP Côtes Catalanes, which are often every bit as good as wines bottled under the various Roussillon AOPs.
So I hope all that sets the record straight. There are two old clichés however that can’t be denied – ‘great local cuisine’ and ‘picturesque scenery’ are still very much rooted in fact.
