Leslie Williams explores the wines of Languedoc

This week I’m focusing on the Languedoc and largely the wines of Domaines Paul Mas which is imported by Cork-based Karwig wines. I toured all their vineyards a few weeks ago and was once again charmed by this part of France.

The wines of the Languedoc take influences from the Mediterranean sea, the mountains and garrigue landscape with its wild thyme and rosemary and from a diverse range of soils from gravel to chalk and limestone. Standards are jumping all the time and vines can grow well with little intervention — Paul Mas are moving towards more and more organic viticulture and aim to maintain their low (very low) prices.

There are warm dry summers and mild damp winters and also some cleansing winds with the cool northern Mistral and Vent Tramontane and the warm wet Vent Marin from the south. The Mas family have been growing vines since the 19th century and when Jean-Claude Mas inherited his father’s 35ha in 1999 nobody could have expected him to grow that to 650ha in under 20 years. Over 90% of their wines exported to 62 countries — ‘a French winery with a new world attitude!’ I was told.