Saint-Chinian AOC

The wines produced at the time were exported across the Mediterranean Sea in ceramic vases known as amphora, and were very much appreciated in Rome.

During the Middle Ages, the monks preserved a part of the vineyard, wine, at the time, being produced by abbeys and monasteries.

Thanks to the development of rail transport and the building of railroads, the wine of Hérault can be efficiently dispatched towards the north of France and Europe.

It therefore has had to try to change its wine-making policy and promote quality over quantity, using better-quality grape varieties taken from other French regions.

In 1951 Saint-Chinian was classified as a Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure (VDQS), the second highest category of French wine.

At the turn of the millennium, the Languedoc region went through a serious wine-making crisis: overproduction, bad sales and competition with wines from the New World and the Southern hemisphere on the international market.

A number of co-operative wine-makers have found themselves in great financial difficulty and have received help from the French State or the European Union.

The Saint-Chinian AOC is situated in the foothills of the Massif Central, the plateau of Espinouse, in the west of the department of Hérault, between Béziers and Saint-Pons de Thomières.

The vineyards stretches over the communes of: Assignan, Babeau-Bouldoux Berlou, Causses-et-Veyran, Cazedarnes, Cébazan, Cessenon-sur-Orb, Creissan, Cruzy, Ferrières-Poussarou, Murviel-lès-Béziers, Pierrerue, Prades-sur-Vernazobre, Puisserguier, Quarante, Roquebrun, Saint-Chinian, Saint-Nazaire-de-Ladarez, Vieussan and Villespassans.