Vin de pays
Carignan is most widely found in southern France, particularly in the Languedoc wine regions of Aude, Gard, and Hérault where it is often made as "Vin ordinaire" and in some "Vin de pays" wines. In the late 1990s, there were over of the grape planted in the Aude and Hérault departments alone but by 2009 the total plantings of Carignan throughout France had dropped to . While plantings of the grape in France were more than 9 times higher than the next major Carignan producing country (Spain), this drop in plantings is indicative of the global trend of decline in "workhorse varieties" like Carignan in favor of what the European Union designates as "improving varieties" such as Grenache, Mourvedre, and Syrah.