About this episode

Joanne Close explores the reasons behind the absence of Spanish wines in French supermarkets, delving into the historical context of the Languedoc region's wine production and the Wine Wars.

Episode 117: Why You Can't Buy Spanish Wine at a French Supermarket - The Wine Wars of the Languedoc Host: Joanne Close Episode Length: 10:50 Release Date: June 25th 2026 Join the Wine Educate Newsletter Get wine tips, episode updates, and exclusive content delivered to your inbox. Subscribe at https://mailchi.mp/6648859973ba/newsletter Episode Description Joanne heads into Narbonne to do a grocery run at the local Carrefour and comes back with a story. Two full aisles of wine, almost entirely French, overwhelmingly local, and not a single bottle of Rioja, Barolo, or Albariño in sight. This episode is about why that is, and the surprisingly dramatic history behind it. The Languedoc produces around a third of all wine made in France, and local growers have fought hard to protect that. Joanne traces the story back to 1907, when hundreds of thousands of producers took to the streets of Narbonne and Béziers to protest collapsing prices and rampant fraud. What followed was more than a century of unrest, culminating in the Wine Wars of the 1970s through 1990s and right up to recent protests in 2023 and 2024 that involved stopped tanker trucks, smashed cases, dumped wine on highways…

People in this episode

Host: Joanne Close

Topics covered

• Spanish wine
• French supermarkets
• Languedoc wine history
• Wine Wars
• Regional pride
• Wine production

Keywords

• Spanish wine
• French wine
• Languedoc
• wine history
• supermarket wine
• Rioja
• Barolo
• Albariño

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Rioja, Barolo, Albariño

Places: Narbonne, Béziers, France

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