Minervois family estate in a 12th-century chateau at Oupia, taken over in 1969 by Andre Iche and run since 2007 by his daughter Marie-Pierre Iche, classic old-vine Carignan-led Minervois.
Signature wines: oupia-tradition, oupia-les-barons, oupia-nobilis
Tip: The Tradition is the value Minervois rouge that punches above its price point; Les Barons is the upper-tier old-vine bottling.
Address: 4 Rue du Chateau, 34210 Oupia, France, Languedoc
Minervois family estate at Felines-Minervois run by Philippe and Maguy Chabbert, working both AOC Minervois-La Liviniere reds and standard Minervois.
Tasting: Cellar tastings at Felines-Minervois by appointment
Signature wines: petit-causse-cuvee-andrea, petit-causse-tradition, petit-causse-blanc
Tip: Cuvee Andrea is the La Liviniere cru flagship; the Tradition is the entry-level Minervois.
Minervois family estate at Felines-Minervois run by Philippe and Maguy Chabbert, working both AOC Minervois-La Liviniere reds and standard Minervois.
Tasting: Cellar tastings at Felines-Minervois by appointment
Signature wines: petit-causse-cuvee-andrea, petit-causse-tradition, petit-causse-blanc
Tip: Cuvee Andrea is the La Liviniere cru flagship; the Tradition is the entry-level Minervois.
Terrasses du Larzac pioneer founded in 1985 by Olivier Jullien at Jonquieres west of Montpellier when he was barely 20, now 18 hectares of varied-soil parcels worked biodynamically without certification (the estate held organic certification until 2006, then renounced it).
Tasting: Cellar tastings extremely limited; mailing-list allocation only
Signature wines: mas-jullien-autour-de-jonquieres, mas-jullien-etats-d-ame, mas-jullien-carlan
Tip: The bottles are scarce: mailing-list only, and Autour de Jonquieres is the most-allocated bottle; Etats d'Ame is the upper-tier cellar release.
Terrasses du Larzac estate originally founded by Jean-Pierre Jullien (Olivier Jullien's father) and taken over in 2004 by Isabelle and Vincent Goumard at Jonquieres, working biodynamic principles on Larzac-foothill terroir.
Tasting: Cellar tastings at Jonquieres by appointment
Signature wines: cal-demoura-terre-de-jonquieres, cal-demoura-les-combariolles, cal-demoura-l-infidele
Tip: Terre de Jonquieres is the appellation flagship; Les Combariolles is the older-vine prestige cuvee.
Five-generation Montpeyroux estate created in 1989 by Sylvain Fadat in the heart of the Terrasses du Larzac, 26 hectares of vines certified organic by Ecocert and biodynamic by Demeter, with the Cocalieres parcel at high altitude on the Larzac foothills.
Tasting: Cellar tastings at Montpeyroux by appointment
Signature wines: aupilhac-le-carignan, aupilhac-la-boda, aupilhac-cocalieres
Tip: Le Carignan is a single-varietal old-vine Carignan (vines planted in 1947 on the Aupilhac home parcel); La Boda is the estate's prestige Terrasses du Larzac.
Terrasses du Larzac estate at Puechabon 30 km north-west of Montpellier, 22 hectares across Puechabon, Aniane, Saint-Jean-de-Fos and Saint-Saturnin-de-Lucian, run by Frederic Pourtalie with around 50,000 bottles a year.
Tasting: Cellar tastings at Puechabon by appointment
Signature wines: montcalmes-rouge, montcalmes-blanc
Tip: Montcalmes Rouge (Syrah-Grenache-Mourvedre) is one of the longest-lived Terrasses du Larzac reds; the blanc (Roussanne-Marsanne) is a small allocation that is heavily back-vintaged.
Terrasses du Larzac boutique estate founded in 2004 by Karine Ahton (lawyer) and Robert Dougan (Australian composer) at Saint-Saturnin-de-Lucian, 11 hectares between Mas de Daumas Gassac and La Grange des Peres, with international critical attention from Robert Parker and Jancis Robinson.
Tasting: Cellar tastings at Saint-Saturnin-de-Lucian by appointment
Signature wines: la-peira-la-peira, la-peira-las-flors, la-peira-matissat
Tip: La Peira (the namesake cuvee) is the Syrah-Grenache flagship; Las Flors and Matissat are the second labels.
