Finding out more: how to visit and how to buy
Find out more
Côtes de Thongue Wines, the official guide
https://www.cotesdethongue.com
This is the website of the Syndicat of Côtes de Thongue winemakers and provides plenty of useful information
Books
There is no one book dedicated to the Côtes de Thongue, but some of the producers are profiled in Rosemary George’s excellent ‘Wines of the Languedoc’ (2018), itself an update to her earlier work, ‘Wines of the South of France’ (2003). The first two chapters, on the history of the region, first upto 1900, and then from 1900 onwards, are a masterly synthesis of the evidence giving the background to the region, which has relevance to the Côtes de Thongue.
Peter Gorley has been researching and drinking for years and has published ‘Gorley’s Guide: the Wines of Languedoc Roussillon’ a while ago now; it’s not so easy to find, however. If you do get it, this also has profiles of some key producers and his passion comes through beautifully.
Buying in the UK
Frustratingly, many of the best wines in the Côtes de Thongue don’t make it to the UK, in particular the mid-market blends at which it excels in delivering a quite exceptional quality price ratio. That said, things are better than they used to be.
The Wine Society offers some wines at the value end, from Arjolle in Pouzolles and Condamine in Nezignan-L’Eveque, which I haven’t visited. It also offers top end Arlequin from Arjolle and in the past has offered some mid-market blends from de la Croix Belle. The Wine Society notably offer the lowest markups of any merchant in the UK.
Santé Wines is a small independent who offer wines both from Domaine St Georges d’Ibry, which I visited, and Domaine Eric Gelly, which I was unable to visit. Their ‘by the case’ selections look decent value. [NOTE: SEPT 6th, 2022: they are currently out of stock.]
Justerinis offer Domaine Montrose wines by the case at decent prices. Montrose are the kings of rosé but also do red and white.
Friarwood in Wimbledon offer a selection of the greatest wines of Domaine de la Croix Belle, which ergo have a claim on being the greatest wines in the Côtes de Thongue. They charge quite a lofty price for them (though not a ludicrous mark-up).
Natural wines
The Côtes de Thongue have four winemakers who are either completely or partly natural wine makers: Chemins de Bassac, Coste Rousse, Des Amiels and Villa Sepia. Only Chemins De Bassac have their wines currently available in the UK, via Gnarly Wines or Tastebuds wines in Norwich:
Visiting the area
There are tons of routes to finding more about visiting the Languedoc, which I will not go into here; any internet search will help. Suffice to say that a stay in the Côtes de Thongue offers a good base for exploring Carcassonne and the Cathar castles, Moliere and music at Pezenas, Catalan culture at Beziers, the Canal du Midi, wild swimming, hikes in the Espinouse, and a range of beaches at the Mediterranean.