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.
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.
Address: Route de Gabian, 34320 Fos, France, Languedoc
Faugeres estate established in 2014 by Adele Arnaud and Olivier Gil, 11 hectares of old-vine schist and 4 hectares of Cotes de Thongue clay-limestone planted to Syrah, old Carignan and the rare Lledoner Pelut.
Tasting: Cellar tastings and on-site accommodation; visits by appointment
Signature wines: mas-lou-angaco, mas-lou-aksou, mas-lou-blanc
Tip: Angaco (Faugeres rouge) is the schist flagship; the estate runs five guest rooms for vineyard stays.
Faugeres cooperative winery founded in 1959 and operating under the Mas Olivier label, with the Vilavigne cellar door at Faugeres open year-round and a broad range of Faugeres AOC reds, whites and roses.
Tasting: Cellar tour and tasting at the Vilavigne cellar door at Faugeres
Signature wines: mas-olivier-expression, mas-olivier-grand-fontaine, mas-olivier-tradition
Tip: The Expression rouge is the cooperative's value Faugeres; the Grand Fontaine is the upper-tier old-vine bottling.
Faugeres estate established in 2014 by Adele Arnaud and Olivier Gil, 11 hectares of old-vine schist and 4 hectares of Cotes de Thongue clay-limestone planted to Syrah, old Carignan and the rare Lledoner Pelut.
Tasting: Cellar tastings and on-site accommodation; visits by appointment
Signature wines: mas-lou-angaco, mas-lou-aksou, mas-lou-blanc
Tip: Angaco (Faugeres rouge) is the schist flagship; the estate runs five guest rooms for vineyard stays.
Faugeres cooperative winery founded in 1959 and operating under the Mas Olivier label, with the Vilavigne cellar door at Faugeres open year-round and a broad range of Faugeres AOC reds, whites and roses.
Tasting: Cellar tour and tasting at the Vilavigne cellar door at Faugeres
Signature wines: mas-olivier-expression, mas-olivier-grand-fontaine, mas-olivier-tradition
Tip: The Expression rouge is the cooperative's value Faugeres; the Grand Fontaine is the upper-tier old-vine bottling.
Saint-Chinian estate at Bramefan, 16 hectares of vines (in a 25-hectare property) at 210 to 300 metres elevation, built from 1988 by Isabelle and Mathieu Champart and acquired in late 2020 by Pascaline and Yves Bour, who entrusted the cellar to Noemie Vidl while keeping the Bordeaux-meets-Languedoc precision intact.
Tasting: Cellar tastings at Bramefan, Saint-Chinian by appointment
Signature wines: champart-cote-d-arbo, champart-causse-du-bousquet, champart-clos-de-la-simonette
Tip: Causse du Bousquet is the prestige Syrah-led cuvee; Clos de la Simonette is the old-vine Mourvedre that often outlives the warmer Languedoc reds.
Saint-Chinian estate founded in 1998 by Bordeaux-trained Cyril Bourgne, working schist parcels in the northern Saint-Chinian zone with a precision-oriented approach learned from the Saint-Emilion grand crus.
Tasting: Cellar tastings at La Madura by appointment
Signature wines: madura-classic, madura-grand-vin, madura-blanc
Tip: The Grand Vin is the cellar Syrah-Mourvedre; Classic is the everyday Saint-Chinian rouge.
Saint-Chinian organic estate at Causses-et-Veyran north of Beziers, working three terroir-specific cuvees (Les Cres on rolled pebbles, Les Schistes on schist, Les Terres Blanches on clay-limestone) since 1990.
Tasting: Cellar tastings at Causses-et-Veyran by appointment
Signature wines: vitarele-les-cres, vitarele-les-schistes, vitarele-les-terres-blanches
Tip: Each of the three terroir cuvees is bottled separately, which makes Borie La Vitarele the cleanest vertical of Saint-Chinian's three soil types in a single estate.
Saint-Chinian-Berlou estate on the schist hillsides above the Orb river at Berlou, certified organic and producing both Saint-Chinian-Berlou cru reds and Saint-Chinian whites.
Tasting: Cellar tastings at Berlou, by appointment
Signature wines: cambis-carnet-de-voyage, cambis-kalliope
Tip: Carnet de Voyage is the Berlou-cru flagship Syrah-Grenache; Kalliope is the rare Saint-Chinian blanc.
