Glossary

AOC -- Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée. A system used to regulate the quality of the best French wines (and which is used for certain foods as well). The regulations cover yield, location, grape varieties, and alcohol content, and even if all these conditions are met a particular wine may still be rejected by the AOC committee as not being up to standard.

Aragon -- The County of Barcelona was founded in the 10th century after the collapse of Charlemagne's empire. In 1137 the Counts became Kings of Aragon, a kingdom which included modern-day Catalonia and Roussillon. The many feudal castles in western Languedoc bear witness to the rivalry between the kings of France and Aragon, and their need to defend the frontier.

Carbonic maceration. A method of vinification. Instead of ripping off the stems and crushing the grapes, the bunches are fermented whole in closed containers, the grapes below being crushed by the weight of those above. This extracts plenty of fruity flavour, but not much tannin, and is therefore becoming popular for improving the quality of Carignan-based red wines which are to be drunk young.

Cigale. Cicada - a brownish insect an inch or so long that looks like a grasshopper and makes a loud chirruping noise on hot sunny days, a sound utterly characteristic of the Midi. They only exist in hot climates; the larvae stay underground for several years and eventually emerge and turn into cigales for one summer. There has been some concern recently, after relatively cool summers, that they are disappearing.

Etang. A salty lagoon divided from the sea by narrow sandbars.

Garrigue. Characteristic low-growing vegetation on limestone hills in the Mediterranean area, consisting principally of bushy plants (including broom, juniper, wild thyme, rosemary and lavender) and holm oak, resulting from the destruction by logging, cultivation, and fire of the Mediterranean forest which originally grew here. It is differentiated from the maquis (more common in Provence) by the underlying geology which favours different plants.

Languedoc. 'A region where the cooking is hearty and delicious, its history and folklore long and colourful. Unfortunately no one seems to know exactly where it is.' -- Len Deighton.

Saignée. A method of making rosé wine: the grapes are put whole into vats and the juice allowed to run off relatively quickly by gravity, before it ferments or takes too much colour from the skins.

Tannin. This is the bitter-tasting substance you can taste in strong tea; it makes the inside of your mouth feel dry and puckered. It is however (in moderation) a vital component of red wines, giving them strength and the ability to age and mellow. A wine high in tannin will have a characteristic brick-red tinge at the edges of the glass.

VdP -- Vin de Pays. This term was once used to cover simple country wines from specific regions of France, one rung up the quality ladder from generic Vin de Table. Nowadays it has come to mean much more than that as adventurous winemakers, often 'incomers' from the New World, experiment with non-traditional grape varieties not allowed under AOC rules. There are now some superb, high-quality (and relatively high-priced) wines hiding behind this modest label.

VDQS -- Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure. This is the 'waiting room' for AOC status, one rung up from VdP. It is rarely seen these days; there is a possibility that it may be phased out.

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