Roussillon is the “steeper, smaller, more AOC” sibling. The Pyrenees shape everything: slopes mean hand work and cost, and the absence of a big flat coastal plain changes the whole economic model compared with Languedoc. Climate helps—warm, windy, moderate rainfall—so fungal pressure is low and organics are viable, but those same winds and dryness can reduce yields, raising concentration while squeezing income. This is also where fortified VDN sits as a structural part of the region’s production identity.

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