Languedoc AOC, previously known as Coteaux du Languedoc, varied and probably too extensive appellation whose zone includes some of France’s best-value vineyards and most of the land suitable for growing vines above the coastal plain in a swathe through the Hérault département from Narbonne towards Nîmes. This territory was once known as Septimanie and is in effect a giant south-facing amphitheatre, although of course there are many local variations in topography. As elsewhere in the Languedoc, much of the land technically included within the appellation is used for other purposes (other crops, igp, or vsig wine, for example). The total vineyard area dedicated to producing Coteaux du Languedoc by 2000 was about 10,000 ha/24,799 acres, a considerable increase on the 6,500 ha declared in the early 1990s, and remained pretty constant for the first decade of this century, despite the region’s enthusiastic vine pull scheme.
