Faugères (also known as Coteaux-du-Languedoc Faugères) is an ''

Appellation d'origine contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical bo ...

'' (AOC) in the Languedoc-Roussillon wine region in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

and is named after the town of Faugères, which lies 30 km north of

Béziers Béziers (; oc, Besièrs) is a subprefecture of the Hérault department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Every August Béziers hosts the famous ''Feria de Béziers'', which is centred on bullfighting. A million visitors are attra ...

, in the foothills of the

Massif Central The (; oc, Massís Central, ; literally ''"Central Massif"'') is a highland region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaus. It covers about 15% of mainland France. Subject to volcanism that has subsided in the last 10,00 ...

, in the département of

Hérault Hérault (; oc, Erau, ) is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault River, its prefecture is Montpellier. It had a population of 1,175,623 in 2019.Coteaux-du-Languedoc AOC.

History

The Middle Ages

Faugères is not the oldest winemaking area in

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximatel ...

. In the Middle Ages, its land was mainly used for growing grain, and olives. However, there was some

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

, most notably the production of altar wine.

The Modern Period

Faugères started to flourish as a wine-producing area around the time of the

French revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, i.e. around the start of the 19th century. Local wine was in fact mainly used to produce a type of ''

eau de vie An ''eau de vie'' (French for spirit, §16, §17 literally " water of life") is a clear, colourless fruit brandy that is produced by means of fermentation and double distillation. The fruit flavor is typically very light. In English-speakin ...

'', using a distilling method from the

Charente Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; oc, Charanta ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, south western France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, an ...

region, that was previously unknown in the Languedoc. This method was called 'fine', so this eau de vie was named 'Fine Faugères'.

Recent history

*1948: The Faugères

terroir (, ; from ''terre'', "land") is a French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, these contex ...

's borders were defined, in the aftermath of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, and remain unchanged to this day. *1955: each type of Faugères wine (red, white and rosé) was classified as

Appellation d'Origine Vin de Qualité Supérieure An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

( VDQS). *1960s: Violent storms destroyed part of the Faugères vineyards, torrential rain gullying the vines. Some plots of land were buried in landslides. Vines were replanted along the contour lines of the newly formed land. *1982: Appellation d'Origine Protégée (AOP Faugères) classification replaced the VDQS status for the red and rosé Faugères wines. *2000: Eau de vie production was recommenced in Faugères. *2005: AOC replaced VDQS status for the white Faugères wines. *2017: Appellation d'Origine Protégée replaces the former AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée) label, within the framework of new 'quality' ladder (following a national reform of the wine quality labels in France).

Etymology

The name of the AOC comes from the village Faugères, whose earliest known written form, dating back to 934 AD, was ''de Falgarias''. This in turn is taken from the Latin ''filicaria'', meaning "fern" in English, and translating into French as "fougère".

Geography

Orography

The appellation area covers 1800 hectares, and consists mainly of primary, schist soils. The majority of the region's vineyards have full southern exposure and lie on rugged slopes. Some hills in the northern area of the appellation area reach altitudes higher than 500m. The Departmental Director of Agriculture, in collaboration with 'SAFER' (French regional societies for the development of land and rural establishments), have experimented setting up vineyards along contour lines, which serves to limit the effects of erosion.

Geology

The Faugères AOC soil is mainly composed of

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes ...

. This schist is metamorphic rock, the result of excessive pressure on clay deposits during the Paleozoic Era and of the formation of the

to the North. Schist is characterised by its capacity to retain large amounts of water (up to a third of its volume) and its heat-storing properties, absorbing heat during the day and releasing it at night. Faugères winemakers often say that their grapes ripen overnight. A geological curiosity exists in the Cabrerolles commune - a meteor crater resulting from the impact of a twenty metre-wide bolite meteorite circa 10,000 years ago. The crater has Syrah vines planted in it (two stages of planting in 1984, then in 1992) which produces a wine from the 'Domaine du Météore'.

Climate

This terroir enjoys a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

with mountainous influences, characterised by gentle winters, hot, dry summers, and a low amount of rainfall that comes mainly in the winter months. Its main winds are the Tramontane, a dry and cold wind that blows clouds away, and the Marin, a humid wind that, contrarily, brings clouds in. The climate can sometimes be very harsh. The table below records temperatures and rainfall for 2007:

Wine region

Overview

The Faugères appellation stretches across the following communes:

Autignac Autignac (; Languedocien: ''Autinhac'') is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. Winemaking Autignac is one of the seven communes which produces Faugères AOC wine. Population See also *Communes of the Hérault department ...

, Cabrerolles (Includes the hamlets of Lentheric, Liquière and Aigues-Vives),

Caussiniojouls Caussiniojouls is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. Winemaking Caussiniojouls is one of the seven communes which produces Faugères AOC wine. Population See also *Communes of the Hérault department The following i ...

, Faugères, Fos, Laurens and

Roquessels Roquessels (; Languedocien: ''Ròcacèls'') is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Population Inhabitants of Roquessels are called ''Roquesselois'' Winemaking Roquessels is one of the seven co ...

Grape varieties

The main grape varieties in Faugères are

Carignan Carignan (also known as Mazuelo, Bovale Grande, Cariñena, Carinyena, Samsó, Carignane, and Carignano) is a red grape variety of Spanish origin that is more commonly found in French wine but is widely planted throughout the western Medite ...

Cinsault Cinsaut or Cinsault ( ) is a red wine grape whose heat tolerance and productivity make it important in Languedoc-Roussillon and the former French colonies of Algeria, Lebanon, and Morocco. It is often blended with grapes such as Grenache and ...

Grenache Grenache () or Garnacha () is one of the most widely planted red wine grape varieties in the world.Niels Lillelund: ''Rhône-Vinene'' p. 25, JP Bøger – JP/Politikens Forlagshus A/S, 2004. . It ripens late, so it needs hot, dry conditi ...

Mourvèdre Mourvèdre (also known as Mataro or Monastrell) is a red wine grape variety grown in many regions around the world including the Rhône and Provence regions of France, the Valencia and Jumilla and Yecla '' denominaciones de origen'' (DOs) of ...

and

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeus ...

for red and rosé wines.

Rousanne Roussanne is a white wine grape grown originally in the Rhône wine region in France, where it is often blended with Marsanne. It is the only other white variety, besides Marsanne, allowed in the northern Rhône appellations of Crozes-Herm ...

, white Grenache,

Marsanne Marsanne is a white wine grape, most commonly found in the Northern Rhône region. It is often blended with Roussanne. In Savoie the grape is known as ''grosse roussette''. Outside France it is also grown in Switzerland (where it is known as ' ...

and

Vermentino Vermentino is a light-skinned wine grape variety, primarily found in Italian wine. It is widely planted in both Sardinia and Liguria, to some extent in Corsica, in Piedmont under the name Favorita, and in increasing amounts in Languedoc-Rouss ...

for

white wine White wine is a wine that is fermented without skin contact. The colour can be straw-yellow, yellow-green, or yellow-gold. It is produced by the alcoholic fermentation of the non-coloured pulp of grapes, which may have a skin of any colour. Whi ...

s. 80% of grape production is used to make

red wine Red wine is a type of wine made from dark-colored grape varieties. The color of the wine can range from intense violet, typical of young wines, through to brick red for mature wines and brown for older red wines. The juice from most purple gra ...

Cultivation methods

Vines are planted against the slope to gain maximum sunlight from southern exposure. After violent storms in the 1960s, Faugères winemakers replanted a lot of vines along the terrain's contour lines. The vines are now adapted to the natural slope of the schist hillsides. Because of this, the erosive effects of heavy autumnal rain are much smaller than in other vineyards in the Languedoc. Similar projects are being considered by the Saint-Chinian AOC and Coteaux du Languedoc areas.

Business structure

There are two cooperative wineries and 44 winemakers in independent wineries (as of 2010).

Wine types

Faugères wines are rounded, with matured fruits and soft tannins.

Notes and references

External links

Official website of Faugères wines
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faugeres Aoc Languedoc-Roussillon wine AOCs Hérault