AOC Languedoc Sommières

Production centres

Based on 18 communes in the Gard : Aspères, Brouzet-les- Quissac, Calvisson, Carnas, Crespian, Fontanès, Gailhan, Junas, Langlade, Lecques, Montmirat, Nîmes, Salinelles, Saint-Clément, Sardan, Sommières, Souvignargues, Vic le Fesc.

Annual production

7,858 hl

Soil

Stony on hard limestone, soft limestone, marl on marine limestone boulders.

Climate

Continental Rhone type climate

Crossed by the Vidourle river, Sommières has been a crossroad between the mountains and plains since the Middle Ages, renowned as an important market centre for the whole region. Until the 19th century, Sommières wealth was primarily based on sheet manufacture and leather production : activities commonly associated with the Vidourle.

Although there have been vines here since the Middle ages, the XVIIIth century saw them expanding onto the slopes and valleys of the Cevennes foothills. The wine graced the tables of the Popes of Avignon, the princes and aristocrats of Languedoc and Provence, as well as those of the kings of France and Aragon.