Roussillon

The magic of French Catalonia

Though unfairly suffixed to the Languedoc for many years in wine literature, the Roussillon—France’s sunniest and driest region, nestled between the eastern Pyrenees and the Mediterranean—has its own distinct identity, both topographically and culturally (it is Catalan, not Occitan, with a long history of Spanish influence). The confluence of a dry, unforgiving climate, intense winds, proximity to the sea, and a large variety of soil types makes for wines, both white and red, of intense minerality and assertive character—often from extremely old plantings.