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Key figures

Facts and Figures

The Languedoc-Roussillon region is the biggest contiguous vineyard in the world. Alone it produces more than the vineyards of Bordeaux, Australia, South Africa and Chile combined.

• In 2008, the Languedoc-Roussillon region produced 14 million hectoliters of wine, or 34% of total French wine production.
• The region includes 268 000 hectares of vineyard, and produces on average 2 million bottles of wine per year.
• In less than twenty years, the region has considerably reduced its annual wine production which has decreased from 29 million hectoliters to 15 million hectoliters. This is thanks to a concerted effort to improve the quality of the wines combined with an extensive grubbing up program.
• 30 % of the wines produced in the Languedoc-Roussillon/Sud de France region are exported. 17% of the latter are exported to the UK, the number two market for Sud de France wines after Germany.
• Sud de France/Languedoc-Roussillon wines account for 21.5 % of French wines exported to the UK.
• The Languedoc-Roussillon region has some 30 Appellations and Crus, including whites, reds, rosés, sparkling and naturally fortified wines.
• The Sud de France brand includes both AOC wines and a huge range of Vins de Pays of which many are varietals.
• The Languedoc-Roussillon region is home to some 3000 viticultural firms, 25 000 producers and 270 cooperative wineries.
• For the vineyard overall, average yield is around 42 hectoliters/hectare and this figure continues to decrease. Today, it is quality that counts, rather than quantity. Yields are generally well below the authorized 50 hectoliters/hectare and are much lower than in other French winegrowing regions.
• In 2009, a budget of some 19 million Euros will be invested by the Regional Council of the Languedoc Roussillon to promote the Sud de France brand. (In 2008, the budget was 15 million Euros, 70% of which was used to promote the brand abroad. The investment in promoting Sud de France wines in the UK was around two million Euros, coming from the Regional Council and regional inter-trade organizations.
• The Sud de France brand will be available in some thirty international markets.
• The « Sud de France » banner represents over one thousand wines from Languedoc-Roussillon.
• 70% of the food and wine products exported each year by the Languedoc-Roussillon region are affiliated with the Sud de France brand.