Wineries in Perpignan

Which appellations can you taste around Perpignan?

Perpignan's wine-growing crown covers most of Roussillon's appellations. Red and rosé wines usually fall under the AOP Côtes du Roussillon; the age-worthy reds from the northern communes fall under the AOP Côtes du Roussillon Villages. Just north of the city, Rivesaltes gives its name to two natural sweet wines, AOP Rivesaltes and AOP Muscat de Rivesaltes, which are served both as aperitifs and with dessert. Many winemakers also claim the more flexible IGP Côtes Catalanes, which leaves room for varietal cuvées and natural wines.

Terroris that change in twenty minutes

Around Perpignan, the soil changes faster than the landscape. The plain of the Têt rests on terraces of rolled pebbles and alluvium, which produce soft, fruity wines. Heading up the Agly towards Estagel and Tautavel, you move onto limestone and then black schist, responsible for more structured reds and saline whites. To the southwest, the Aspres present their clay-limestone and granite hillsides. Everywhere, the tramontane wind dries the grapes and limits disease: this is one reason why the Pyrénées-Orientales is among the most organic-converted wine departments in France.

The grape varieties you will taste

Grenache reigns in all three colours: noir for reds and sweet wines, gris and blanc for full-bodied, saline whites. It shares the plots with carignan, often from old vines, syrah, mourvèdre and lledoner pelut. Among the whites, macabeu gives taut wines, while muscat à petits grains and muscat of Alexandria make up Muscat de Rivesaltes.

When to come for a tasting

The cellars around Perpignan welcome visitors all year round, but the pace changes with the seasons. Spring and early autumn offer the best conditions: soft light, active vines and available winemakers. The harvest, from late August to early October, is the liveliest time — and the one when you need to book the earliest. In winter, visits take place in the cellar, often in very small groups.

Wine tasting in Perpignan: between urban tradition and natural renaissance

Capital of Roussillon, Perpignan is far more than a historic and cultural centre: it is also a key hub of the Catalan wine scene. Long at the heart of the trade in Natural Sweet Wines, the city is now experiencing a winemaking revival driven by the natural wine movement and a generation of committed winemakers.

Around the city, the vineyards of the Roussillon plain spread over clay-limestone, rolled pebbles or loamy soils, depending on the area and the estate. But Perpignan's wine identity is expressed above all in its natural wine bars, urban cellars and events focused on living wines.
Here, wine tasting in Perpignan becomes a convivial and authentic experience: meetings with passionate wine merchants, evenings of local food-and-wine pairings, and introductions to tasting organic or natural wines.

A few estates located on the outskirts (in Saleilles, Canohès, or at the foot of the Aspres) also welcome visitors for an immersive tasting, often in a rural setting yet only minutes from the city centre.

For lovers of natural wine in Perpignan, this is the ideal place to discover additive-free cuvées with raw, sincere aromas, often fermented in amphora or concrete tanks, with great respect for the living.

If you want to have a glass in town, you can go to Lady Jaja, on the Cathedral square, to Domaine Giocanti, or to Le Grabuge