Annual production : 80 726 hl of which 6 896 hl under Grés de Montpellier label (including five ‘city’ terroirs). Soil : Hard limestone, rolled alpine alluvium pebbles, predominantly shaly limestone with dominantly limestone content . Climate : Thearea defined asGrés de Montpellier enjoys much the same climate throughout a zone stretching east from the middle valley of the Herault to the Vidourle; its northern boundary is the Pic St Loup where the weather changes. There’s a strong maritime influence : the humid sea winds in August are particularly helpful to a specific type of maturity, as are the strong sunshine and cumulative temperatures of over 1 800° during the growing season. A moderate Mistral wind is commonplace too, getting stronger as it heads from Lunel towards Nimes.
Montpellier’s links with wine go back a long way. Its university professors, particularly those at the School of Medicine, had a vineyard near the city and made a notable contribution to viticulture. Arnaud de Villeneuve (XIII century) and later Edward Adams invented and developed the alcohol still. When Rabelais was studying medicine at Montpellier, he used to gather herbs at the Domaine de Grammont; wine was one of his discoveries, the other ? The manager’s daughter …
In 1729, in its role as the Languedoc’s administrative headquarters, Montpellier introduced the first regulations governing the sale of wines and spirits; these, in conjunction with stringent quality control requirements, could, even today be regarded as repressive.
And, in the XIX century when phyloxera was ravaging French vineyards, it was agronomic research in Montpellier that discovered methods of fighting the aphid.
Nowadays, thanks to the Agropolis centre which makes it the world’s second largest agronomic grouping, Montpellier is once again a beacon in agriculture, viticulture and the international farm produce industry.
La Méjanelle
Production centres : Castelnau-le-Lez, Mauguio, Montpellier, Saint-Aunès. Soil : terrasses de galets roulés Climate : influence marine.
Mediaeval Maguelone church records show that Méjanelle vineyards owned by the Bishops were already producing rich, rounded, fatty wines, with aromas ranging from spice and smoke to ripe fruit.
This terroir, which is restricted to the commune of St Christol, has its origins in a command post built for the Knights Hospitaliers of St John of Jerusalem in 1139.
Grapes ripen beautifully in a near ideal climate, the resulting wine is open and warm, often with a spicy character. The Mouvèdre grape is in its element here.
Saint-Drézéry
Production centres : Saint-Drézéry Soil : Spreading talus (stones washed down a slope) at an altitude of 105 - 125 m (345 – 410 ft).
This terroir was much written about in the Middle Ages. In 1804, US President Thomas Jefferson, instructed his Finance Secretary to lower import duty on St Georges wine; encouraging people to drink quality wine, he explained, was the best way to combat alcoholism.
Vérargues
Production centres : Beaulieu, Boisseron, Lunel, Lunel Viel, Restinclières, Saint-Génièsdes, Mourgues, Saint-Sériès, Saturargues, Vérargues. Soil : Clay and limestone terraces and scree covered slopes
This terroir used to be known for its ‘café’ easy drinking wines, but nowadays it produces thoroughly well-balanced, highly aromatic, quality wines with good ageing potential.
Grés de Montpellier 
Production centres: Assas, Aumelas, Beaulieu, Boisseron, Campagne, Castelnau-le-Lez,
