French wine bureaucrats are flushed with pride, having rejigged the Languedoc's labyrinthine system of classifications into a new, streamlined hierarchy � which is as confusing as ever. I look on such exercises as welfare for under-employed French civil servants: it's better that they're redesignating Corbi�res Boutenac as a Grand Cru du Languedoc than out on the streets. As for figuring what's worth drinking from this huge area, you'll just have to get out a wine atlas, taste, and take my word for it.
Maris Syrah Organic 2007, Vin de Pays d'Oc (Waitrose, �8.99 reduced to �6.74 until Oct 12)
British aristocrat and biodynamic wine producer Bertie Eden produces serious red Minervois. Don't let's get started on why this rich, sweet blockbuster can only be a humble Vin de Pays as opposed to a full-blown Minervois la Livini�re, like his luscious Ch�teau Maris Vieilles Vignes 2008 (Waitrose, �11.99).
Clos du Gravillas, �Sous les Cailloux des Grillons� 2008, Vin de Pays des C�tes de Brian (Green and Blue, 38 Lordship Lane, SE22, �12.35 from greenandbluewines.com)
This lovely, big, brambly, peppery wine is made from cabernet sauvignon, malbec and tempranillo, a blend so heretical that it's just a particularly obscure Vin de Pays. Not a Grand Cru du Languedoc, dear me no.
Domaine Borie de Maurel �La F�line� 2005, Minervois la Livini�re (terroirlanguedoc.co.uk, �12.75: mail order only, you can mix cases, delivery �10/case)
The la Livini�re sub-appellation of Minervois has been producing notably good wines for at least a decade. This well-known producer shows how with this superb red, a typical local blend of syrah, grenache and carignan: deep, rich, sweet, powerful but beautifully balanced. And now the area's not a humble Grand Vin du Languedoc but a Grand Cru: what could be clearer?
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