This is an important question, particularly if you find a wine from the region that is a little more expensive than usual.
The answer is the same as for any other region from Bordeaux to the Grampian Hills in Victoria, or Burgundy to the Central Valley of Chile. In other words yes they will age very well, but only if they have been made carefully, using grapes from (fairly) low yielding vines, and only when the winemaker has decided to make a wine for aging.
I think the secret for picking wines for aging from Languedoc is to look for the better regions, and the better producers. If you look at the wines on our site, this would immediately push you to L'Ermitage du Pic Saint Loup from AOC Pic-Saint Loup, and Plan de l'Om from the Terasses du Larzac, perhaps with Mas de Valbrune from AOC Coteaux du Languedoc Cabrieres. Now all of these domains harvest the grapes at low yields, often below 25 hl/ha, they are all meticulous in their care of the vines, with L'Ermitage using Biodynamic techniques and the other two either zero, or very low levels of chemicals purely to treat pests and diseases if only absolutely necessary. In the cellar all three are careful to only allow healthy fruit to be used, and the fermentations are long and slow, with the extraction very carefully managed, and the marc pressed at very low pressures. Aging is also lenghty with careful use of mainly old oak only if they are absolutely sure it will benefit the wine. Interestingly the blends of the wines vary, with L'Ermitage focussing on mainly Syrah and Grenache, Plan de l'Om on these plus Carignan, and Valbrune on mainly Cinsault with Syrah.
But does all this really make a difference, and do the wines really improve. Well it is only my opinion, but over the last month or two I have tasted/drunk five vintages of l'Ermitage du Pic Saint Loup Cuvee Saint Agnes - 2000 - 2 and 2004 - 6. The results were fascinating, the wines were all unmistakably from the same producer, with a very characteristic note of spice and almost vin d'orange on the finish, and the same (but developing) black fruit aromas and flavours from the Syrah. The youngest wines were definitely still dominated by fruit, but with age the wines started to develop some lovely gamey character, and even more complex spice, the tannins were also developing, though never aggressive to begin with, the took on a real soft texture.The oldest wine still showed some fruit, and I believe it is now at its peak, but that it will stay there for a year or three yet. For me the most interesting thing was the overall quality of the wines, they are definitely improving year on year, the 2004 was very good, the 2005 better and the 2006 very complex, full of flavour and superbly balanced. It is obvious that Pierre Ravaille is comfortable in his winemaking and can now extract that last few percent of the potential of this great domain.
If you are happy to ook outside the best reputed areas, then it is occasionally possible to find a producer who makes fantastic wine that will age for many years, in an area that is only allowed to make a humble Vin de Pays. I am happy that Mas d'Agalis and the Domaine des 1000 Roses do just that. They use exactly the same approach as the domans in the so called best areas, but if anything are even more obsessive about the health of the vines and grapes, and the care with which they make the wine. The both wines from Agalis and the Pierre Figee and Cuvee Lea from 1000 Roses are great examples of brilliant and ageworthy wines from Languedoc.
But what about the whites? Well that is for another post!
Ian