Questions Uncorked

Jul 21, 2008

Hi Emery, and thanks for your question. Allow me to explain: The Vin de Pays wines are considered to be the “country wines” of France. There are three different levels of Vin de Pays wines – regional, departmental and local.

You can think of these three levels as being like concentric circles. The largest ring would be the regional designation. The departmental level is the next, smaller circle – within each region are different departments. And then the smallest circle is the local designation – within the different departments you will find the local Vin de Pays. If you wanted to (sort of) compare it to the USA, then the regional level would be like the East Coast, the department would be similar to New York and the local could be Long Island.

So, to answer your specific question – where is Pays d’Oc? – Vin de Pays d’Oc is a regional Vin de Pays that covers wines produced in the Languedoc-Roussillon area in the South of France. The Vin de Pays d’Oc is the most important and the most productive of the different Vin de Pays in France. If you want to see it on a map, check out the Vin de Pays website. You can find a lot of wines on my list from the different Vin de Pays – this category of French wine is known for being a great source of delicious and affordable wines. If you want to try one specifically from the Vin de Pays d’Oc, you can click here  – this link will take you to my list organized by region and here you can find the Vin de Pays wines. Cheers!