The Southern French wine region of Languedoc, the biggest wine-producing area in the world, has known over the last couple of decades a total renaissance.
From a region more known for supplying large volumes of affordable wines, it has turned into a rich source of world-class wines from its variety of terroirs and appellations such as Pic Saint Loup, Faugères or Saint-Chinian.
Jancis Robins MW wrote in September 2017 in the Financial Times: “This summer I was struck by just how much great wine is being produced here (white and pink as well as red)”.
The area is famous and appreciated by locals and tourists alike, for its abundant sunshine and its praised Mediterranean coastline. So much so in fact, that it featured at the 4th place in the Lonely Planet’s ‘Best Places to Visit in 2018’.
The area is also now clearly on the wine map, providing an infinite number of Premium characterful wines. As a few examples, check out my selection of 8 World-Class Languedoc Wines I wrote for last year’s Languedoc Day.
The French wine magazine La Revue des Vin de France even named local producers Calmel & Joseph ‘Negociant of the Year 2018’.
To help you find more gems, I have gathered below the list of the 50 most expensive, therefore arguably some of the best Languedoc wines you can find and buy.
Learn more about Languedoc wines and its many appellations, AOPs and IGPs on languedoc-wines.com
Top 15 Most Expensive Languedoc Wines
1 – Gérard Bertrand Minervois La Livinière Clos d’Ora
Average Price: $209 – £149 – €168
Grape Variety/Blend: Carignan, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Grenache
What is it about? Clos d’Ora is 9-hectare vineyard (22 acres) enclosed by dry stone walls and located at La Livinière in the Minervois, at an altitude of 220 meters (700 ft) above sea level.
Discovered by Gérard Bertrand in 1997, the estate also covered in olive trees and oak trees, was carefully maintained and upgraded until revealed what would become the most expensive wine in Languedoc on September 3rd 2014. In 2000, Bertrand planted Syrah and Mourvèdre alongside the ancient Carignan and Grenache. At the highest point of the estate, an old sheep farm was renovated, creating a fermentation room, a barrel room, and also a meditation area. The fermenting room was built outdoors to favor cosmic influences. The barrel cellar radiates a strength and tranquility that are beneficial to the ageing of this wine. At Clos d’Ora, Biodynamic methods of viticulture are used, using the horse and the mule to foster connections between mineral, vegetable, animal and human.
Winery Website: gerard-bertrand.com
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2 – Domaine de la Grange des Pères White, IGP Pays de l’Herault
Average Price: $189 – £136 – €152
Grape Variety/Blend: 80% Roussanne – 10% Marsanne – 10% Chardonnay
The most expensive white wine from Languedoc.
What is it about? Attaining cult wine status is not an easy feat, and certainly not when the odds are stacked against you. Laurent Vaillé has achieved what others thought impossible. Having spent his early career training under such masters as Jean-François Coche-Dury (Meursault), Gérard Chave (Hermitage), and Eloi Durrbach (Domaine Trévallon, Provence), he settled in the l’Hérault of the Languedoc and purchased his own land in 1989, near Aniane. In this area of the region, where the limestone is hard and abundant and the soil poor, no one thought he would ever have any success planting a vineyard on his plot of choice. Though it took dynamite and bulldozing to clear twice the amount of limestone, boulders, and glacial scree that is found in neighboring vineyards, he found a great terroir for his grapes. He did not have to look far to find ideal bud wood, either. He sourced his Syrah, Marsanne, and Roussane cuttings from Gérard Chave and his Cabernet from Domaine Trévallon. Laurent’s South-facing vines get very low yields, normally from twenty to twenty-five hectoliters per hectare. All are pruned in the gobelet style. The simultaneous restraint and power of his wines makes them ideal for aging. As for the skeptics, they are currently eating their words. His area of the Languedoc has since become known to produce some of the greatest wines in the region, with the new appellation of Terrasses du Larzac, of which he is technically part, reaping attention and praise. In his words, “Nature gave us a partition of land. It is up to us to interpret it.” Source: kermitlynch.com
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3 – Domaine de la Grange des Pères Red, IGP Pays de l’Herault
Average Price: $127 – £91 – €102
Grape Variety/Blend: 40% Syrah, 40% Mourvèdre, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Counoise
4 – Château de la Négly La Clape La Porte du Ciel
Average Price: $114 – £82 – €92
Grape Variety/Blend: 70% Syrah – 30% Grenache
What is it about? TERROIR: Limestone sandy clay, very stony.Manual harvest at full ripening, the grapes are selected one by one. Complete destemming before a long vatting period of 60 days in truncated cone vats. AGEING:Malolactic fermentation and ageing in new barrels for a period of 24 months.
Winery Website: lanegly.com
5 – Château de la Négly Languedoc Clos des Truffiers
Average Price: $112 – £80 – €90
Grape Variety/Blend: 80% Syrah – 20% Grenache
What is it about? TERROIR: Very stony, sandy limestone clay soil on the hills above the village of St Pargoire in the department of Hérault. VINIFICATION: Hand-harvested and hand-selected grapes at full maturity. Manual destemming. Long fermentation, (60 days), conical fermenters.MATURATION: Aged in barrels for two years. Malolactic fermentation in barrels.
Winery Website: lanegly.com
6 – Château Puech-Haut Saint-Drézéry ‘La 40ème’
Average Price: $97 – £69 – €78
Grape Variety/Blend: Grenache – Syrah
What is it about? Aged without sulfites S02 for 12 months in news oak barrels (2/3) and one wine (1/3) with
stirring of the lees during the first months. Winemaking : hand harvest. Vinification without S02 and with natural yeasts. Whole bunch fermentation. Cold pre-fermentary maceration during a week followed by a 2 week traditionnal vinification without yeast and with feet treading only.
Winery Website: puech-haut.fr
7 – Domaine Les Aurelles Coteaux du Languedoc Aurel Blanc
Average Price: $76 – £54 – €61
Grape Variety/Blend: Roussanne
What is it about? Made from 100% Roussanne grapes, under AOC Coteaux du Languedoc. Hand harvested with a drastic selection. The harvest is done selecting only the best grapes so the vineyard is picked in several harvests (2 to 4 depending on the vintage). Aged in a combination of 350l barrels and tanks for 24 months. 1,700 to 3,500 bottles produced annually.
Winery Website: les-aurelles.com
8 – La Peira en Damaisela Terrasses du Larzac ‘La Pèira’
Average Price: $73 – £52 – €59
Grape Variety/Blend: Syrah – Grenache
What is it about? The desire to discover the site’s innate qualities through exceptional viticultural work has shaped La Pèira’s philosophy since the beginning. La Pèira is a cuvée of Syrah, Grenache, and is a pure expression of the unique terroir of the Estate’s Bois de Pauliau lieu-dit.
Winery Website: la-peira.com
9 – La Peira en Damaisela Terrasses du Larzac Matissat
Average Price: $70 – £50 – €56
Grape Variety/Blend: 100% Mourvèdre
What is it about? Never ones to wish to distract from the domaine’s La Pèira wines, we nevertheless found ourselves in 2007,harvesting Mourvèdre of excellent quality, that when it came to blending, could not find its place alongside the Syrah and Grenache in the La Pèira blend and so it was bottled alone. This is practice has continued, and each year for the last six years we have harvested a small plot of Mourvèdre that makes up the entirety of this wine – Matissat. The wine is grown few steps away from where it is vinified – on the same plot as the Syrah and Grenache of La Pèira on the Bois de Pauliau.
Winery Website: la-peira.com
10 – La Peira ‘En Damaisela’ Blanc, IGP Pays d’Herault
Average Price: $66 – £47 – €53
Grape Variety/Blend: Viognier – Roussanne – Marsanne – Clairette Blanche
What is it about? After the better part of a decade, planting and growing white varieties and planning, the estate bottled the La Pèira White. A blend Viognier, Roussanne and Marsanne with the addition of Clairette blanche in some vintages, it is the white counterpart to the La Pèira grand vin.
Winery Website: la-peira.com
11 – Château de la Négly Coteaux du Languedoc L’Ancely
Average Price: $66 – £47 – €53
Grape Variety/Blend: 70% Mourvèdre – 20% Grenache – 10 % Syrah
What is it about? TERROIR: Sandy clay, very stony, situated on the south east hillsides of the Clape massif. VINIFICATION: Manual harvests, sorting is carried out grape by grape, picking is done at optimal ripeness. Complete destemming. A long vatting period of 60 days in conical truncated vats. MATURATION: Aged in « demi-muids » (600L barrels) for 20 months. Malolactic fermentation.
Winery Website: lanegly.com
12 – Domaine Ludovic Engelvin ‘Les Vieux Ronsard’
Average Price: $65 – £46 – €52
Grape Variety/Blend: Grenache
What is it about? Single vineyard wine from old vines of Grenache planted in 1955. Vinified using nearly no sulfites (So2), aged for 12 months in Burgundy oak barrels and a further 6 months in tank. Annual production of about 1000 bottles.
Winery Website: ludovicengelvin.com
13 – Domaine de St. Eugene Les Trois Tomates ‘Consul’, IGP Pays d’Oc
Average Price: $63 – £45 – €51
Grape Variety/Blend: 45% Syrah – 45% Cabernet Sauvignon – 10% Grenache
Winery Website: les3tomates.com
14 – Chateau Puech-Haut Saint-Drézéry Bosc Negre
Average Price: $61 – £43 – €49
Grape Variety/Blend: 90% Mourvèdre and 10% Grenache
What is it about? AOP Languedoc wine from Saint Drézéry. Vineyard on Clay and limestone soils with pebbles, rolled by the Rhône river during the Quaternary era. The Mourvèdre was aged in new oak barrels during 16 months while the Grenache wine matured in traditionnal tanks.
Winery Website: puech-haut.fr
15 – Domaine Les Mille Vignes Les Pied des Nymphettes, IGP Aude
Average Price: $60 – £42 – €48
Grape Variety/Blend: Carignan Blanc
Top 16 to 60 Most Expensive Languedoc Wines
Rank | Wine Name | Grape/Blend | EUR Price | USD Price | GBP Price | Winery Website |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
16 | Gerard Bertrand Corbières-Boutenac La Forge | Carignan - Syrah | €47 | $58 | £42 | gerard-bertrand.com |
17 | Gerard Bertrand Minervois La Livinière Le Viala | Carignan - Grenache - Syrah | €46 | $57 | £41 | gerard-bertrand.com |
18 | Chateau Maris Minervois La Livinière Les Amandiers | Syrah | €45 | $56 | £40 | chateaumaris.com |
19 | Clos Marie Pic Saint-Loup Les Glorieuses | Grenache - Syrah | €44 | $55 | £40 | - |
Gerard Bertrand l'Hospitalitas La Clape Rouge | Syrah | €44 | $55 | £40 | gerard-bertrand.com | |
21 | Mas du Soleilla Languedoc Clot de l'Amandier | Grenache - Syrah | €43 | $53 | £38 | mas-du-soleilla.fr |
Domaine Leon Barral Faugères Valinière | Mourvèdre - Syrah | €43 | $53 | £38 | domaineleonbarral.com | |
23 | Domaine Les Aurelles Coteaux du Languedoc Aurel Rouge | Grenache - Mourvèdre - Syrah | €40 | $50 | £35 | les-aurelles.com |
Domaine Les Mille Vignes Fitou Les Vendangeurs de la Violette | Mourvèdre - Grenache noir - Carignan | €40 | $50 | £35 | lesmillevignes.fr | |
Domaine Avela 'Theodore' Rouge, IGP Pays d'Herault | Carignan - Cinsault - Syrah - Grenache | €40 | $50 | £35 | domaineavela.com | |
26 | Mas de Daumas Gassac Red, IGP Saint-Guilhem-le-Desert | Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Pinot Noir, 4% rare varieties | €39 | $49 | £35 | daumas-gassac.com |
Clos Lalfert, IGP Pays d'Herault | 100% Syrah | €39 | $49 | £35 | - | |
28 | Mas des Quernes Terrasses du Larzac Le Querne | Grenache - Mourvèdre - Carignan | €38 | $47 | £34 | mas-des-quernes.com |
29 | Chateau Puech-Haut Pic Saint-Loup Le Clos du Pic | Grenache - Mourvèdre - Syrah | €37 | $46 | £33 | puech-haut.fr |
Chateau Maris Brama Grenache Gris | Grenache Gris | €37 | $46 | £33 | chateaumaris.com | |
Gerard Bertrand Aigle Royal Limoux | Chardonnay | €37 | $46 | £33 | gerard-bertrand.com | |
Clos Bagatelle Saint-Chinian Je me Souviens | Grenache - Mourvèdre | €37 | $46 | £33 | closbagatelle.com | |
33 | Vignerons de Lunel Chateau Tour de Farges Muscat de Lunel | Muscat Blanc a Petits Grains | €36 | $45 | £32 | muscat-lunel.eu |
Domaine de Ravanès Les Gravières du Taurou Grande Reserve, IGP Coteaux de Murviel | Merlot - Petit Verdot - Cabernet Sauvignon | €36 | $45 | £32 | - | |
Domaine Bertrand Bergé Fitou Jean Sirven | Carignan - Grenache - Syrah | €36 | $45 | £32 | bertrand-berge.com | |
36 | Mas du Soleilla La Clape Reserve Red | Syrah | €35 | $44 | £31 | mas-du-soleilla.fr |
Mas Gabinele Faugères Rarissime | Grenache - Mourvèdre - Syrah | €35 | $44 | £31 | masgabinele.com | |
Borie la Vitarèle Saint-Chinian Midi Rouge | Southern Rhone Red Blend | €35 | $44 | £31 | borielavitarele.fr | |
39 | Domaine Les Mille Vignes Fitou Atsuko | Southern Rhone Red Blend | €34 | $43 | £30 | lesmillevignes.fr |
Le Mas de l'Ecriture Coteaux du Languedoc L'Ecriture | Grenache - Mourvèdre - Syrah | €34 | $43 | £30 | masdelecriture.com | |
Domaine d'Aupilhac Montpeyroux Le Clos | Carignan - Grenache - Syrah | €34 | $43 | £30 | aupilhac.net | |
Massamier La Mignarde Minervois La Livinière Domus Maximus | Grenache - Syrah | €34 | $43 | £30 | massamier-la-mignarde.com | |
43 | Maxime Magnon Corbières Campagnès | Carignan with Grenache, Syrah, Grenache Gris, Macabou, Terret | €33 | $41 | £29 | - |
Mas de Daumas Gassac White, IGP Saint-Guilhem-le-Desert | Viognier, Petit Manseng, Chardonnay, Chenin, 14% rares varieties | €33 | $41 | £29 | daumas-gassac.com | |
Ermitage du Pic Saint-Loup Guilhem Gaucelm | Syrah - Grenache | €33 | $41 | £29 | ermitagepic.fr | |
Domaine Les Mille Vignes Muscat Sec, IGP Aude | Muscat petits grains | €33 | $41 | £29 | lesmillevignes.fr | |
47 | Domaine Alain Chabanon Coteaux du Languedoc Saut de Coté | Mourvèdre | €32 | $40 | £28 | alainchabanon.com |
Gil Morrot Montpeyroux Divem | Grenache | €32 | $40 | £28 | divem.fr | |
49 | Mas Jullien Terrasses du Larzac | Syrah - Mourvèdre - Carignan | €31 | $39 | £27 | - |
Chateau de Cazeneuve Pic Saint Loup Le Sang du Calvaire | Mourvèdre | €31 | $39 | £27 | chateaucazeneuve.com | |
Prieuré de Saint-Jean de Bébian Coteaux du Languedoc Blanc | Southern Rhone White Blend | €31 | $39 | £27 | bebian.com | |
52 | Domaine Les Aurelles Solen Coteaux du Languedoc | Southern Rhone Red Blend | €29 | $36 | £26 | les-aurelles.com |
Domaine de la Cendrillon Corbières No 1 | Southern Rhone Red Blend | €29 | $36 | £26 | lacendrillon.fr | |
Domaine de Cebène Faugères Felgaria | Grenache - Mourvèdre - Syrah | €29 | $36 | £26 | cebene.com | |
Domaine Binet Jacquet Faugères Grande Réserve | Southern Rhone Red Blend | €29 | $36 | £26 | binet-jacquet.com | |
Domaine de Baron'Arques Limoux Red | Cabernet - Grenache - Merlot - Syrah | €29 | $36 | £26 | domaine-de-baronarques.com | |
Domaine Pierre Cros Minervois Les Aspres | Syrah | €29 | $36 | £26 | - | |
58 | Domaine Leon Barral Faugeres Jadis | Carignan - Grenache - Syrah | €28 | $35 | £25 | domaineleonbarral.com |
Henri et Laurent Miquel Saint-Chinian Larmes des Fées | Syrah | €28 | $35 | £25 | laurent-miquel.com | |
60 | La Peira en Damaisela Terrasses du Larzac Las Flors de la Peira | Grenache - Mourvèdre - Syrah | €28 | $35 | £25 | la-peira.com |
Domaine du Pas de l'Escalette Terrasses du Larzac Le Grand Pas | Grenache | €28 | $35 | £25 | pasdelescalette.com |
This list of the Top 25 most expensive Languedoc wines in the world was retrieved from the biggest wine price database in the world at Wine-Searcher.com as per February 2018, you can see the original list here. Note that to be included on the list, a wine must have at least 10 offers worldwide across at least four vintages. Prices are ex-tax worldwide averages for 750ml bottles.
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