Languedoc-Roussillon is France's largest wine-producing region by volume, stretching along the Mediterranean coast from Nîmes to the Spanish border. It's long been known for easy-drinking, sunny reds, but a wave of growers working old-vine Carignan, Grenache and Mourvèdre on schist and limestone hillsides has pushed quality sharply upward in recent decades. The region also makes fresh coastal whites and, in Roussillon, sweet fortified Vins Doux Naturels from Grenache and Muscat.

Key grapes: Carignan, Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Picpoul