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Appellation · France

Côtes du Roussillon Villages

The senior red appellation of French Catalonia, on schist and granite in the Pyrenean foothills.

Côtes du Roussillon Villages AOCmediterraneanhot
What to expect in the glass

Full-bodied, dense dry red with black fruit, liquorice, garrigue and substantial warmth. High alcohol and firm tannin.

About Côtes du Roussillon Villages

Roussillon is Catalan rather than Occitan in language and culture, and its wines are correspondingly different from the Languedoc’s: hotter, drier, and built on very old Grenache and Carignan bush vines on schist and granite.

Yields here are among the lowest in France — a consequence of drought, old vines and poor soils rather than of regulation — and the wines are dense and powerful.

The region remains best known for its fortified vins doux naturels, but dry red has been the growth story of the last thirty years.

What the name means

Legal name
Côtes du Roussillon Villages AOC
Type
Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée / Protégée (AOC / AOP)
Set by
INAO
Recognised
1977
Regulates
Origin, plus grape varieties, maximum yields, minimum ageing.

The delimited area, permitted varieties, maximum yields, minimum alcohol, pruning and training methods, and in many cases minimum ageing. Administered by INAO.

Worth knowing

Red wine only. Five villages — Caramany, Latour de France, Lesquerde, Tautavel and Les Aspres — may append their names.

Grapes

Wines from here

red

Languedoc red

Mediterranean blends from France’s largest wine region — warm, herbal and increasingly serious.

Rules worth knowing

Confirmed in the EU register

Côtes du Roussillon Villages is registered as a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), file number PDO-FR-A0999, protected at EU level since 1973.

Article 107 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013

Specification published: Official Journal C, C/2026/2084, 09.04.2026 · Official Journal

Only the rules that change what to expect in the glass or on the label. WineHQ does not reproduce production specifications, and each entry carries the date it was last checked because appellation rules change.

The designation is confirmed above. WineHQ has not read this appellation’s production specification, so it publishes no yields, ageing minima or permitted-variety lists for it — those come from the document linked above, not from a summary of it.

What to eat, and how to serve it

Derived from this region’s signature styles. Each is listed separately, because a region does not have one serving temperature.

Languedoc red

Serve at 15–17°C (cellar cool).

Try with cassoulet, roast chicken or fillet steak.

Where to go next

Places worth trying if you like this one — neighbours, rivals, and the obvious step across.

  • Banyuls — Fortified sweet Grenache from terraces falling into the sea at the Spanish border — France’s answer to Port, and the classic chocolate wine.
  • Maury — An inland Roussillon appellation making both fortified sweet Grenache and, since 2011, dry red wine.
  • Fitou — The Languedoc’s oldest red appellation, in two separate enclaves either side of Corbières.

Sources

Sources consulted