Languedoc-Roussillon wine

Languedoc - Roussillon wine, including the vin de pays labeled Vin de Pays d'Oc, is produced in southern France. While "Languedoc" can refer to a specific historic region of France and Northern Catalonia, usage since the 20th century (especially in the context of wine) has primarily referred to the northern part of the Languedoc-Roussillon région of France, an area which spans the Mediterranean coastline from the French border with Spain to the region of Provence. The area has around under vines and is the single biggest wine-producing region in the world, being responsible for more than a third of France's total wine production.K. MacNeil The Wine Bible pg 293 Workman Publishing 2001 ISBN 1563054345 As recently as 2001, the region produced more wine than the entire United States.K. MacNeil The Wine Bible pg 294 Workman Publishing 2001 ISBN 1563054345

History

The history of Languedoc wines can be traced to the first vineyards planted along the coast near Narbonne by the early Greeks in the fifth century BC. Along with parts of Provence, these are the oldest planted vineyards in France. The region of Languedoc has belonged to France since the thirteenth century and the Roussillon was acquired from Spain in the mid-seventeenth century. The two regions were joined as one administrative region in the late 1980s.<ref name="MacNeil pg 294"...
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