The Vineyard

Located in the heart of the AOP Faugères on the townlands of the same name, the Mas des Capitelles vineyard extends over 28 hectares of vines consisting essentially of the southern varieties : Carignan, Mourvèdre, Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault for our red wines and Roussanne and Vermentino for our white wine.

They have been cultivated in thes chist hillsides of Languedoc for generations, in a unique terroir characterized by its southern exposure, its dry climate, altitude (250m), its slightly acid soils and its influence on the north wind.

Cultivated exclusively with organic and biodynamic methods, in the spirit of responsible agriculture and looking to the future.

Consisting largely of old Carignan and Mourvèdre varieties, our vineyards allow us to product of wines of outstanding quality that keep exceptionally well over time.

Winemaking

OUR PHILOSOPHY

Convinced that great wine cannot be made without a great vineyard, we pay particular attention to how we cultivate our vines.
That’s why the 28 hectares of vines that make up the Mas des Capitelles are worked with traditional methods and in respect for the environment.

Our vineyard is characterized by a high proportion of Carignan, the fundamental grape variety used in the wines of our appellation and more generally in Languedoc Roussillon wines. This variety, often maligned in the past, allow great wines to be produced on dry and sunny hillsides, wines that are powerful, generous and in direct relation to their terroir of origin.

For this reason our family has, from generation to generation, focused its particular attention on cultivating this variety. This is demonstrated by the presence of many vines that are more than 60 years old, or some that are even more than 100 years old.

Another variety, that we especially use for the production of our wines, Mourvèdre. This variety allows to create wines of character with tastes of leather, pepper and blackcurrent, and that have remarkable aging potential.

CULTIVATION METHODS

The vineyard is fully plowed several times a year, either in a single direction or else in both directions if the spacing is sufficient. This aerates the soil properly and allows microbial life to develop.

The vines are mainly trained in traditional manner and short, 90% trained in goblets (no wires). This allows them to mature better, considering our shale-based soils, and allows us to better control the yields. This pruning also allows better foliar exposure and therefore an optimal concentration.
The harvest is entirely done manually and sorted on the vines for average yields between 20 and 30 Ho / Ha.

The choice of sorting on the vine and and not on a sorting table is guided by a our approach to winemaking; which consists of not working with and making wine from grapes that do have the right quality.

THE ENVIRONMENT

Anxious to preserve the environment and its biodiversity, the Mas des Capitelles started to evolve to organic farming on March 17 2008, which led finally in 2011 to our first certified AB-certified harvest. As a result the domain uses only products that are certified for organic farming, with no weedkillers and using only only organic fertilizers for soil enhancement.

Treatment is done mostly with sulfur and copper-based products (less than 4 kg / year / Ha).
Our domain is certified by the “Ecocert” organization.
Our vineyard is also cultivated using Biodynamics according to the methods of Rudolf Steiner, based on 500, 501 solutions and herbal preparations.
Horn dung 500, once energized, is buried in the soil to allow the development of microbial life and exchanges between the soil and the plant.
The horn silica 501, when it is applied to the aerial parts of the vine.

We also use different decotions of horsetail, nettle, wicker… that protect the vines from various fungal diseases.
This type of method of cultivation corresponds to a certain idea of viticulture, to be in harmony with nature, with living things and the different life cycles of the plant. The goal is to recreate a harmony between the soil, plants and humans.

This ancestral method of working is the same as our grandparents used.

It is based on observing and listening to nature. Simple things, which were the basis of our work, but that unfortunately over time farmers have replaced with another kind of agriculture based on “more and more yield” and where the environment, common sense and quality do not have their say.

Iconic grape variety of Languedoc, Carignan is an integral part of our identity and the typicity of our wines.

Our vineyard is distinguished by a large proportion of Carignan, a typical grape variety of the appellation and more generally of Languedoc Roussillon wines.

Long underestimated, Carignan reveals all its grandeur on our arid and sunny hillsides, giving birth to imposing, generous wines deeply rooted in their original terroir. It is for this reason that we have always given particular care to our old Carignans, as evidenced by the presence of numerous vines over 60 years old, some even a hundred years old.

Lovers of this grape variety, both in terms of its taste and sentiment, we decided to dedicate a 100% Carignan vintage to it in order to pay homage to it and share the complexity of this unique grape variety with as many people as possible.

The cellar

True to our conception of the wine must be, according to us, as natural as possible, we intervene as little as possible during its aging in order not to distort its aromas and its attachment to the terroir. That is why we do not intervene on the temperatures of our wines during vinification by heating or cooling the soft grapes.

Harvesting late in the middle of September, we use the strong thermal amplitude, between the hot days and cool nights of this period, for the production of our wines.

Thus the juices during vatting are removed at night and reincorporated into the must the next morning, thus making it possible to maintain the latter at an optimum temperature and to achieve long vatting periods of more than three weeks. This process of cooling the harvest allows us to reveal more aromas, color and perfume in the wine to come.

We also do not filter our wines and we sulphate them as little a possible during fermentation so they can age and become refined over time under the right conditions.

We attach great importance to the quality of harvesting, this is why the entire vineyard is sorted on the vine and harvested manually. Low yields between 20 and 30 ho / ha as well as traditional winemaking methods and carbonic maceration, allow us to produce wines with exceptional aging potential.

To ensure the correct balance, our wines are vatted for a minimum of one year to develop their typical characteristics and aromas. Our domain also gradually expands its aging cellars from year to year, its as evidenced by our different vintages.

The concern for quality, the the winemaker’s touch, and a strict fermentation in cellars, are proof of the quality of the products sold on the domain.

Our History

Viticulture has been part of our family for ten generations.

Our grandfather was one of the first to initiate the creation of our village wine cooperative and the Faugères appellation, for which he foresaw a promising future. As a result, he gave up making wine at home so he could join the cooperative cellar, and he became its president.

Some years later his son Jean Laugé, joined him. He remained there for no less than 35 years, until 1999. Then when his sons Cédric and Brice Laugé arrived on the domaine, he decided to change to making wine in his own cellars.
For us it is important to remain a family business and, as artisans in a small-scale activity, all productions steps are made by us.
This allows us to perform constant monitoring of the quality of our wine products, including tasting.