the impression given when vines in the commune of Saint-Chinian develop autumn tints around a quintessential, pink, French farmhouse; a spectacle that’s been a regular event for some 25 centuries.
Languedoc wine was first harvested by the Phoenicians in the 6th century BC and along with Provence, has some of the oldest vineyards in France. From the 4th to the early 19th centuries, the Languedoc wine region had a reputation for producing high quality wine. Indeed, in Paris during the 14th century, the wines were prescribed in hospitals for their “healing powers”.
During the advent of the Industrial Age in the 19th century however, production shifted towards mass-produced cheap red wine to satisfy the growing work force and during both World Wars, wine from the Languedoc was standard issue for the French army. But its reputation continued to fall.
Today the Languedoc wine region is considered by many connoisseurs to be France’s “New World”. A wine region on the up, producing prime red wines with some rosés and whites thrown in for good measure. It has 12 AOCs, with the most famous being Corbières, Faugères, Minervois, and Saint-Chinian where the pink farmhouse resides.
George Munday Creative 