La Livinière

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Accessory grape varieties

Terroir

• The vineyard faces south/south-east, at an altitude of between 120 and 330 metres, in the rugged landscape of the foothills of the Montagne Noire.
• The geographical zone is bounded to the west by the River Ognon, a tributary of the Aude, and to the east by the Massif de la serre d'Oupia and the River Espène.
• The zone belongs to a syncline filled with tertiary molasse sediments, cut through by sandstone beds at its centre, lacustrine limestone conglomerates to the north, and scattered gravelly terraces to the south.
• The climate is characterised by low annual rainfall of between 400 and 500 millimetres, an annual mean temperature above 14°C, and more than 2,400 hours of sunshine per year.
• The Petit Causse area is sheltered from westerly rains by the hills of Laure Minervois and from Mediterranean maritime incursions by the serre d'Oupia, while benefiting from cool nocturnal air currents descending from the Causse ridgelines.
• Century-old olive trees survived the extreme frosts of the winters of 1956 and 1963 as well as the droughts of the 1950s, bearing witness to this distinctive climate.
• The geographical zone extends across the territory of five communes in the département of Hérault and one commune in the département of Aude.

• The presence of the vine in the Minervois dates back to Roman times, the region being crossed by a road linking Toulouse to Lodève north of the Via Domitia.
• First recognised as a VDQS in 1951 and then as AOC Minervois in 1985, the La Livinière area obtained its own appellation Minervois-La Livinière in 1999, renamed La Livinière by the decree of 2 September 2022.
• The wines must come principally from the grenache, syrah, lledoner pelut, and mourvèdre varieties, with the grenache–syrah–mourvèdre combination accounting for a minimum of 60% of the vine plantings. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)

• The wines are produced from a blend of several grape varieties in accordance with the tradition of the Languedoc vineyard, with a majority proportion of grenache, mourvèdre, and syrah.
• They display a deep, purple colour with brick-red hints, a rich and dense structure, and develop spiced, cooked or jammy fruit notes, sometimes with vanilla or cocoa nuances after ageing in oak barrels.
• Consistently powerful and warm, they are very persistent, concentrated, and tannic yet balanced, with a proven ability to age while long retaining the suppleness, velvety texture, and characteristic fruitiness of the great wines of the South of France.

• Sheltered from maritime influences and exposed to the south/south-east, the zone benefits from a warm, dry climate combined with nocturnal freshness — conditions conducive to optimal grape ripeness and the sought-after balance between alcohol and tannins.
• The precise delimitation of well-exposed plots, with clay-limestone soils of high stoniness and naturally low yields, combined with the climatic conditions, achieves a match between the grape variety and the viticultural situation that contributes to the distinctive expression of concentrated and powerful wines.

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

All appellations in France

Sources

• Product specification (BO Agri, PDF) — approved 2 septembre 2022, JORF 13 septembre 2022
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — CIVL