Côtes de Thau

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The geographical area covers 15 communes in the Hérault, forming an amphitheatre around the Étang de Thau, an inland sea 20 kilometres long.
• The Étang de Thau is sheltered from the Mediterranean by a lagoonal barrier known as the lido, which is planted with vines.
• The relief has an average elevation of around 50 metres, with slopes generally below 1%, interrupted to the south by the ancient volcano of Mont Saint-Loup at Cap d'Agde, which rises above 100 metres.
• The soils are red to beige in colour, generally light in texture — sandy-silty to sandy-clayey — with few stones and relatively good depth.
• Annual rainfall is around 600 mm, with fairly significant autumn and winter precipitation and low summer rainfall offset by sea breezes that reduce evaporation and limit the risk of water stress.

• A traditional Languedoc grape variety, Terret, spread around the Thau basin from the seventeenth century onwards, giving rise to a production of oxidative white wines destined for vermouth making, notably at Marseillan.

• Around twenty producers declare an average of 50,000 hectolitres, of which nearly 75% are white wines, with red and rosé wines sharing the remainder in roughly equal parts.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

Dénominations géographiques complémentaires

• Côtes de Thau Cap d'Agde PGI

All appellations in France

Sources

• Product specification (BO Agri, PDF) — approved 27 juillet 2023, JORF 5 août 2023
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — Confédération des Vins IGP de France