Pierre and Estelle Clavel's 33-hectare estate at Assas north of Montpellier, working across Pic Saint-Loup, Gres de Montpellier, La Mejanelle and Saint-Christol with biodynamic principles and organic certification.
Signature wines: clavel-bonne-pioche, clavel-copa-santa, clavel-les-garrigues
Tip: Bonne Pioche is the Pic Saint-Loup cuvee, Copa Santa is the Gres de Montpellier Syrah-led flagship.
Address: Mas de Perry, 34820 Assas, France, Languedoc
Ratier-family Pic Saint-Loup estate, eleven generations on the same Saint-Mathieu-de-Treviers terroir, producing certified-organic wines under AOP Pic Saint-Loup and AOP Languedoc.
Tasting: Cellar tastings at Saint-Mathieu-de-Treviers, by appointment
Signature wines: vieille-classique-rouge, vieille-vignes-buissonnieres, vieille-blanc
Tip: The Vignes Buissonnieres bush-vine cuvee is the connoisseur's pick; the Classique rouge is a solid Pic Saint-Loup gateway.
Ratier-family Pic Saint-Loup estate, eleven generations on the same Saint-Mathieu-de-Treviers terroir, producing certified-organic wines under AOP Pic Saint-Loup and AOP Languedoc.
Tasting: Cellar tastings at Saint-Mathieu-de-Treviers, by appointment
Signature wines: vieille-classique-rouge, vieille-vignes-buissonnieres, vieille-blanc
Tip: The Vignes Buissonnieres bush-vine cuvee is the connoisseur's pick; the Classique rouge is a solid Pic Saint-Loup gateway.
Faugeres estate at Lentheric, 35 hectares on schist created by Didier Barral in 1993, named after his grandfather and worked biodynamically with integrated livestock (cattle and draught horses) since the start.
Tasting: Limited availability; cellar visits by direct contact
Signature wines: barral-faugeres-tradition, barral-jadis, barral-valinieres
Tip: Jadis (Syrah-Grenache-Carignan) is the cellar bottle and one of the longest-lived Faugeres reds; the Valinieres (Mourvedre-Syrah) is the prestige cuvee from upper-slope schist.
Vidal-Dumoulin family estate at the hamlet of La Liquiere in Cabrerolles, 60 hectares on the pure schist hillsides of the Faugeres appellation, certified organic.
Tasting: Cellar tour and tasting at La Liquiere by appointment
Signature wines: liquiere-cistus, liquiere-nos-racines, liquiere-amandiers
Tip: The Cistus rouge is the schist-driven flagship; the Nos Racines old-vine Carignan shows the estate's heritage parcels.
Eleven-hectare hilltop Faugeres estate founded in 2007 by Brigitte Chevalier after a Bordeaux trade career, set on schist bedrock inside the Haut-Languedoc Natural Park with a tasting room and gite among the vines.
Tasting: Cellar tastings at the hilltop winery by appointment; gite accommodation available
Signature wines: cebene-belle-lurette, cebene-felgaria, cebene-les-bancels
Tip: Felgaria (Mourvedre-led) is the schist flagship; Belle Lurette (old-vine Carignan-Grenache) is the heritage cuvee.
Historic Faugeres estate (formerly Jean-Michel Alquier, an early architect of the appellation), joined and renamed in 2018 by Sophie and Thibaud Bardi de Fourtou, with the schist parcels still at the core of the wines.
Tasting: Cellar tastings at Faugeres by appointment
Signature wines: bardi-alquier-les-bastides, bardi-alquier-maison-jaune, bardi-alquier-blanc
Tip: Les Bastides (Syrah-Grenache-Mourvedre) is the cellar bottle; the Maison Jaune is the entry-level Faugeres rouge.
Five-generation Faugeres family estate at Fos run by siblings Luc and Francoise Ollier on 36 hectares of schist in conversion to organic agriculture, with their parents Nicole and Alain among the architects of the 1982 AOC decree.
Tasting: Cellar tour and tasting at Fos by appointment
Signature wines: ollier-taillefer-castel-fossibus, ollier-taillefer-collines-bleues, ollier-taillefer-allegro
Tip: Castel Fossibus (old-vine Syrah-Mourvedre-Grenache) is the prestige bottle; the Allegro white (Roussanne-Marsanne-Vermentino) is a rare AOC Faugeres blanc.
