Geoffrey Dean: hits the spot in Languedoc-Roussillon

When La Revue de Vin de Fance, the esteemed French wine magazine, gave Foncalieu one of its coveted annual awards in Paris in January, the wine world sat up and took note. Les Vignobles Foncalieu, to give them their full name, was crowned French co-operative of the year, following in the footsteps of La Chablisienne in Chablis and Embres et Castelmaure in Corbieres. Twenty years after its formation as a union of co-operatives, the Languedoc-centred Foncalieu had won a most notable accolade.