This is a great article about how beautiful Languedoc is.
“To most, the term Corbières recalls a sultry bottle of Red they purchased at the local corner store – a mere word mixed in with the jargon of some over-zealous wine connoisseur. To those who have ventured into the depths of Southern France, not the glitz of Saint Tropez or the surf camps of Biarritz, but a land on the cusp between France and the Spanish border, the Corbières is a name that will stay etched on their memories forever.
It is by definition a wine region, not a geographical one; however it is referred to as the latter in everyday conversation. The Corbières, situated in the Languedoc Region of south west France, encompasses the city of Carcassonne, stretching down the coast to the Roman city of Narbonne and a little beyond.
Its tumultuous history is marked in particular by the 13th-century Crusades against the Cathars – purists who thought the Catholic Church to be indulgent and whose main difference lay in their belief that the soul should be freed from material things. Legends such as the Holy Grail and the Knights of the Round Table can all be linked to Cathar times.
Thanks to the joys of budget airlines, where a bottle of water is likely to cost more than your seat, countries all over Europe have regular flights, usually at least two a day, which will take you to Carcassonne or Perpignan, both little more than an hour’s drive from the final destination. The roads which take you to it are narrow and treacherous, and the further along them you progress, the further you feel yourself drifting from reality.”
Jesse Willms
Jesse Willms Wine Blog 