AOC Grès de Montpellier

Production centres

Assas, Aumelas, Beaulieu, Boisseron, Campagne, Castelnau-le-Lez, Castries, Combaillaux, Cournonsec, Cournonterral, Garrigues, Gignac(pour partie), Guzargues, Juvignac, Lavèrune, Lunel, Lunel-Viel, Mauguio, Montagnac, Montbazin , Montpellier, Murviel-les-Montpellier, Pignan, Plaissan, Poussan, Prades le Lez, Restinclières, Saturargues, St-Aunès, St-Bauzille-de-la-Sylve, St-Bauzille-de-Montmel, St-Christol, St – Clément, St-Drézéry, St-Genies-des-Mourgues, St Georges-d’Orques, St-Pargoire, St-Pons-de-Mauchiens, St-Séries, St-Vincent-de-Barbeyrargues, Sussargues, Vailhauques, Vendémian, Vérargues, Villeneuve les Maguelone, Villeveyrac.

Annual production

80 726 hl of which 6 896 hl under Grès de Montpellier label (including five ‘city’ terroirs).

Soil

Hard limestone, rolled alpine alluvium pebbles, predominantly shaly limestone with dominantly limestone content.

Climate

The area defined as Grès de Montpellier enjoys much the same climate throughout a zone stretching east from the middle valley of the Herault to the Vidourle; its northern boundary is the Pic St Loup where the weather changes. There’s a strong maritime influence : the humid sea winds in August are particularly helpful to a specific type of maturity, as are the strong sunshine and cumulative temperatures of over 1 800° during the growing season. A moderate Mistral wind is commonplace too, getting stronger as it heads from Lunel towards Nimes.

Montpellier’s links with wine go back a long way. Its university professors, particularly those at the School of Medicine, had a vineyard near the city and made a notable contribution to viticulture. Arnaud de Villeneuve (XIII century) and later Edward Adams invented and developed the alcohol still. When Rabelais was studying medicine at Montpellier, he used to gather herbs at the Domaine de Grammont; wine was one of his discoveries, the other? The manager’s daughter …

In 1729, in its role as the Languedoc’s administrative headquarters, Montpellier introduced the first regulations governing the sale of wines and spirits; these, in conjunction with stringent quality control requirements, could, even today be regarded as repressive.

And, in the XIX century when phyloxera was ravaging French vineyards, it was agronomic research in Montpellier that discovered methods of fighting the aphid.

Nowadays, thanks to the Agropolis centre which makes it the world’s second largest agronomic grouping, Montpellier is once again a beacon in agriculture, viticulture and the international farm produce industry.