Fitou

The wine

The first red AOC of Languedoc-Roussillon — recognised as early as April 28, 1948, following winegrowers' petitions dating to 1935 — Fitou occupies two distinct terroirs spread across nine villages in the Aude: a mountainous core inland and a Mediterranean coastal fringe, separated but united under the same appellation. The reds, exclusively, are built on dominant Carignan, complemented by Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre, with a minimum alcohol level of twelve percent. Ageing brings them aromatic complexity: spices, cooked fruit, garrigue. Eighteen hundred hectares produce around fifty-five thousand hectolitres annually, animated by the Mesnie des Chevaliers du Fitou brotherhood and the traditional summer festival that rotates between villages. Serve at seventeen to nineteen degrees with cassoulet, wild-boar daube, or snails à la sommiéroise — traditional pairings for a powerful, sun-drenched Languedoc.