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PREMIUM

Languedoc whites: Panel tasting results

Its wide range of terroirs, grapes and resulting wine styles mean there’s something for everyone to discover among this expansive region’s wines.

Elizabeth Gabay MW, Poppy de Courcy-Wheeler and Justin Howard-Sneyd MW tasted 158 wines, with 2 Outstanding and 30 Highly Recommended.

Languedoc whites: Panel tasting scores

158 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 2

Highly recommended 30

Recommended 114

Commended 12

Fair 0


Entry criteria: Producers and UK agents were invited to submit current-release, still white wines from any of the AOPs within the Languedoc (with the exception of AOP Picpoul de Pinet), as well as from any of the IGP and Vin de France, but not including single-varietal Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay.


The wine-growing region of Languedoc is 200km in length, arcing round the southwestern edge of France’s Mediterranean coastline. Diverse terroirs with schist, limestone, clay and sand can be found along the coastal plains and the southern foothills of the Massif Central.

There is an Atlantic influence in the northwestern vineyards, higher altitude coolness in the foothills of the Pyrenees in the south, and cool air sweeping down the Rhône Valley in the east. The resulting diversity can make it almost impossible to define a ‘Languedoc style’.


Languedoc white wines rated 90+ listed below



Languedoc whites panel tasting scores

Wines were tasted blind


The judges

Elizabeth Gabay MW is a wine writer, educator, speaker and consultant, with a focus on rosé and the wines of southern France, where she has lived since 2002. Her second book Rosés of Southern France (£22 Amazon, 2022) was co-authored with her son Ben Bernheim

Poppy de Courcy-Wheeler is a wine buyer for Waitrose, focusing on rosé, Burgundy and regional France, having previously worked for more than five years in roles including wine buying and head of trade sales at importer Charles Taylor Wines

Justin Howard-Sneyd MW is the DWWA Regional Chair for Languedoc-Roussillon. A former wine buyer in UK multiple retail, he is a wine trade consultant via his company The Hive Wine Consulting, a trustee of the Regenerative Viticulture Foundation, and produces wines at Domaine of the Bee in Roussillon


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