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Cartagène

Name (also Carthagène) for a sweet and high-alcohol vin de l iqueur (fortified wine) from the French Languedoc. Alcohol is added to the unfermented white or red grape must to stop fermentation. As a rule, it consists of 80% grape must and 20% brandy. The must must come from at least 50% Grenache Noir (Garnacha Tinta) or Grenache Blanc (Garnacha Blanca). The alcohol content is usually between 16 and 18% vol., the residual sugar content 150 g/l. In some cases, various flavouring ingredients are used, such as vanilla, but no sugar. Cartagène is drunk as an aperitif or digestif for personal consumption. Recognition as an AOC under the name "Cartagène du Languedoc" was applied for at the INAO in 1989, but this was not (yet) granted.

Cartagène - Etikett, Flasche, Etikett

Supposedly, the name dates back to the time of the Second Punic War (219-201 BC), when the Carthaginian commander Hannibal is said to have introduced this form of winemaking in Languedoc after his march across the Pyrenees. According to another version, however, Cartagène has nothing to do with Carthage, but is derived from the way the drink is composed in four quarters (1/4 alcohol and 3/4 must) and the verb "cartager", which means "to work the vineyard a fourth time" (though what the frequent working of the vineyard is supposed to have to do with the mixing ratio remains unclear). The third version says that "cartager" simply means "quarter".

Centre image: Par JPS68 - Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

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