Beyond Burgundy: How Languedoc-Roussillon became one of France's biggest stories at DWWA 2026

For decades, Languedoc-Roussillon has been France’s viticultural engine room. Stretching from Provence to the Pyrenees, this sultry southern sweep of vineyards produces around a third of the country’s wine, much of it historically destined for volume rather than distinction. That reputation has been slow to shift, but the 2026 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) results suggest it is now shifting – and fast.

France led the medal charts once again at the world’s largest wine competition and its prestige regions delivered as expected, with Burgundy alone claiming five Best in Show wines from Premier and Grand Cru sites. But one of the most compelling French stories of the year came from much further south, where Languedoc-Roussillon recorded its best-ever Gold tally, 31 in all, alongside two Best in Show wines and three Platinums.

The signature of Pic Saint-Loup

Stand in a vineyard below Pic Saint-Loup, the jagged tooth of limestone that gives this corner of the Languedoc its name and take a moment to crush a sprig of wild thyme between your fingers. That scent, the resinous tangle of thyme, rosemary and sun-baked stone the French call garrigue, hangs in the air, settles in the soil and the region’s winemakers will tell you, finds its way into the wine itself.

One of the Languedoc’s top-scoring red wines is Bergerie du Capucin’s Dame Jeanne, a Syrah-led 2023 from this very appellation, the cool, high ground tucked against the foothills of the Cévennes.

For owner Guilhem Viau, the secret is the weather. ‘Our northern location, at the foothills of the Cévennes, creates a unique microclimate,’ he says, one of cold winters, wide swings between day and night, and far more rain than the parched coast. The result, he explains, is closer to the Northern Rhône than to the Mediterranean: ‘fine, elegant tannins and a touch of natural acidity’, with the peppery, violet-scented lift that marks the appellation out. The judges agreed, calling it a ‘supremely classy wine’ of ‘resolutely pure and unadulterated fruit’.

Pic Saint-Loup underlined its growing reputation with a Platinum for Château Lancyre’s Grande Cuvée 2022. Here it is the surrounding scrubland that leaves its fingerprint, says the estate’s Head of Communication Cassandre Perez, lending the wine ‘those characteristic notes of garrigue, thyme, rosemary, menthol, that are the signature of Pic Saint-Loup’.

Beyond a single appellation

What gives the region’s year real weight is that the quality extends well beyond Pic Saint-Loup. The second Best in Show went to Les Coins Perdus Du Midi;s playfully named Bong Ving Putaing Cong, a Grenache–Carignan–Syrah blend from Maury Sec, the young dry-red appellation created in 2011 on the dramatic Agly Valley sites long associated with Maury’s dark, sweet fortified wines. It was a first for the appellation at this level and, at 15.5%, hardly a shy wine, but the judges found more than power, praising its ‘great complexity and sense of place’ and calling it ‘a stunning debut for Maury Sec at the highest levels of our competition’.

Inland, Terrasses du Larzac, one of the Languedoc’s most closely watched young appellations, took a Platinum for Mas de la Séranne’s Antonin et Louis 2023. For winemaker Amandine Venture, the high, cool plateau does the work:

The third Platinum came from the broad IGP Pays d’Oc, for Domaine de Castelnau’s L’Etendoir des Fées 2023, a pure Syrah the judges praised for its ‘sensational tapenade, black pepper and herb aromas’ and ‘amazing typicity’. Between them, the three wines map the region’s range, from a named cru against the Cévennes to a rising plateau appellation to a humble regional IGP, all reaching the same rarefied tier.

A dynamic region

For all its reputation as red-blend country, the region’s 2026 results tell a broader story.

Down in the Roussillon, the southern half of the region, William Jonquères d’Oriola took a Top Value Gold for his Villa d’Oriola Chardonnay 2025, a white from a family that has made wine at the Château de Corneilla, by his account, ‘from father to son since 1485’, some 27 generations. He sees a region remaking itself. ‘Today the Roussillon is becoming a very dynamic region for whites,’ he says. ‘For a long time, we were known for fortified wines and reds.’ The key, he believes, is the sea: hot days tempered by a cooling Mediterranean wind that ‘brings freshness and a beautiful balance’.

That appetite for the new runs right through the region’s results. Among the Gold medallists were a steely Roussanne-Marsanne blend from Minervois and a bright, thyme-flecked Vermentino, proof that the south’s whites are catching up fast with its reds. Add the region’s leading showing in France’s orange-wine medals and unexpected successes with Spanish grapes, including an Albariño and even a sparkling Verdejo, and you have the sound of a region with nothing left to prove on volume, and everything to gain by exploring.

Crush that sprig of thyme again. The garrigue has been here all along. What has changed is the wine being made among it, and a region once measured by the litre is now, finally, being measured by the glass.

DWWA 2026: Top-scoring Languedoc-Roussillon wines

Bergerie du Capucin, Dame Jeanne, Pic Saint-Loup 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
This is the third time Pic St Loup has featured in our Best In Show selection out of a total of six Languedoc appearances, underscoring the potential of the pure limestones and ever-changing orientations of this eastern Languedoc zone. ‘The Pic’ is also a little cooler and a little moister than other Languedoc appellations, meaning that it is one of the spots in this vast region where Syrah still feels comfortable and at ease. All of this was evident to our judges as they tasted this ‘supremely classy wine’ with its 70% Syrah component, entirely aged (for an unhurried two years) in concrete. Everyone fell in love with its herbal, floral nose, and applauded the fact that there was no oak to get in the way; the ‘resolutely pure and unadulterated fruit’ on the palate brought great pleasure too, ‘totally open and pure-hearted’, and the ‘silky but persistent tannins’ were much admired. It’s not a wine you need to wait for, and anyone who might doubt the refreshment potential of a great Languedoc red should take a look at this Pic performance. Alcohol 14%

Bong Ving, Putaing Cong Grenache-Carignan-Syrah, Maury Sec 2025
Best in Show, 97 points
The Maury Sec appellation came into being in 2011, covering the same magnificent Agly Valley sites that have long been used for the dark, sweet and chocolate-friendly fortified wines of the Maury appellation alone. The potential here to make dense and almost shockingly rich dry red wines lent profundity by their mineral charge is enormous, and this is the first wine of this sort that we’ve seen emerge into the bright sunlight of our Best In Show selection. Our judging panel was hugely impressed: ‘Authentic, traditional terroir-styled wine with great complexity and sense of place’ summarised one. Like our Croatian Plavac Mali, at 15.5% it’s not a wine for the faint-hearted and would be best served in the depths of winter, when you need reminding of summer’s solar force. It’s dark purple-red in colour, sending a billow of beautiful blackberry fruit up from the glass. The weight in the mouth is splendid, and the wine perfectly illustrates the way in which great tannins can be both flavoury as well as textured. Those blackberry fruits are everywhere, given lift by sappy acidity and without any oak noise to spoil the party; such oak as the wine has had is simply there to tame youthful exuberance, and the longer you spend with the fruit the more you realise that it is packed with herbal and stone complexities, too. A stunning debut for Maury Sec at the highest levels of our competition. Alc 15.5%

Domaine de Castelnau, L’Etendoir des Fées, IGP Pays d’Oc 2023
Platinum, 97 points
Sensational tapenade, black pepper and herb aromas lead the charge, colliding diligently with the blackberry juice intensity that flows liberally through to the finish line. Such amazing typicity, the sort of wine to dive right into. Alc 14.5%

Château Lancyre, Grande Cuvée, Pic Saint-Loup 2022
Platinum, 97 points
Lashings of black forest fruit and aromatic Mediterranean herbs brim under the nose, empowered by a robust structure, complete with pencil-shaving tannins and vibrant acidity. Very long with savoury persistence, carrying a calming persona in tow. Alc 14%

Mas de la Seranne, Antonin et Louis, Terrasses du Larzac 2023
Platinum, 97 points
An enticing tapestry of blackberry, plum, thyme and lavender is sewn effortlessly into the flattering oak structure, sustained by plush texture, velvet tannins and melting acidity. Elegant and composed with a phenomenal garrigue-scented finish. Fabulous. Alc 14.5%

Château Estanilles, Clos du Fou, Faugères 2023
Gold, 96 points
Darkly demure, exhibiting black cherries, violets and wild herbs that gather over the glossy texture and swirl through the pristine acidity. Sweet liquorice varnishes the length. Alc 14.5%

Maison Castel, Séries Limitées chap.vii L’équilibriste, Terrasses du Larzac 2022
Gold, 95 points
Evocative terroir-driven notes of thyme, garrigue, bay leaf and black cherry funnel through the lively mineral vein, clothing the silky tannins and pure acidity. Remarkable. Alc 14.5%

Mas Nicolas, Coingtessence, Faugères 2023
Gold, 95 points
Vivid blueberries, blackcurrants and wild herbs define the nose, whilst woody spice and cured meats furnish the palate. Silky and structured with a delicious length. Alc 14.5%

Domaine de L’Ostal, Grand Vin Blanc, Minervois 2023
Gold, 95 points
Fetching aromas of hazelnut, baked almond and honeyed pear with a soupçon of white flower ardour. Steely and sapid with a savoury Marmite tang to end. Alc 13.5%

Château La Villatade, V, Minervois 2025
Gold, 95 points. Vibrations of fruit salad: peach, nectarine, pear and pineapple with flickers of dried thyme and yellow flowers. Perky and bright with a long, cooling finish. Alc 12.5%

Discover all winners at awards.decanter.com