Our wines

Location

Nestling in the heart of the Faugères appellation, our vineyards cover just over 23 hectares on the foothills of the Cévennes overlooking the village of Laurens. The vines, planted at an ideal altitude of 180 meters, are between 30 and 60 years old and naturally produce low yields.

Grape variety

100% Carignan: the vines are over 50 years old

Soil

The soil is dominated by the sandstone schist of Laurens-Cabrières, like the neighbouring areas of the Faugérois Hills. This type of soil presents a fragile structure which is slightly acidic and can be difficult for the vines, but when treated with adapted cultivation methods, provides well balanced vines.

The climate in 2022

An early vintage, marked by heatwave and drought.
After a dry autumn and mild winter, spring was warm with some welcome rain. It was a long, hot summer, right up to the storms of 16 August. It was already too late for the Syrah and Carignan (small berries and little juice), but the Grenache and Mourvèdre benefited from the rain to reach good ripeness.

Pruning and yield

Short goblet style pruning for low yields of 25 to 30 hl/ha.

Vinification

Hand harvesting of very ripe grapes.

The idea was to create a cuvee purely from this variety, with a short maturing time to preserve the fruity characteristics. We therefore chose to combine carbonic maceration (50%) to contribute aromatic flair and texture on the palate with traditional vinification (50%) to maintain fruity freshness and purity. We have produced 5,200 bottles of this new wine.

Tasting notes

Thierry's love of this ancient grape variety is well known. He has progressively modernised this cuvée and far from any standard clichés it expresses originality all the way: ruby-red colour, aromas of crushed strawberry, Ente plum, black pepper, liquorice stick and the famous bituminous cistus from the Laurens terroir.

Great depth and body on the palate with wonderful aromatic length. This is a wine of temptation. It doesn’t take long to succumb!

Temperature and serving suggestions, gastronomic alliance

Serve slightly chilled at 14-15° C with tapas, Haut-Languedoc charcuterie, wood-fired grills, truffled Brillat-Savarin.

About the Carignan grape variety

Carignan comes from Spain and is a traditional Mediterranean grape variety, sometimes also known as “Mataro”, “Bois dur” or “Catalan”. In the early 20th century, Carignan was the most widely planted grape in the Languedoc. It is a late maturing variety and needs a good deal of heat to ripen. It is at its best when on the poor soils of the hillsides and when the vine is over 30 years old, producing low yields of 30 to 40 hectolitres per hectare. The resulting wines are colourful, full of character and fleshy in texture.