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
Committed to preserving the environment and its biodiversity, Mas des Capitelles has been engaged since March 17, 2008 in a transition toward organic farming, culminating in our first certified organic harvest in 2011.
The estate uses exclusively products authorized for organic agriculture, without chemical herbicides, and relies solely on organic amendments to nourish the soils.
Treatments are mainly carried out using sulfur and copper (less than 4 kg per hectare per year).
Our estate is certified by Ecocert.
In the vineyard, we complement this approach with cultural practices based on careful observation of the living ecosystem and the vine’s natural cycles. Certain interventions are carried out in accordance with the lunar calendar.
Natural preparations made from organic and mineral materials are applied to the soil to encourage biological activity and promote exchanges between soil and plant. Other sprays, applied to the canopy, support healthy leaf development and grape ripening.
We also use various plant decoctions and herbal infusions such as horsetail, nettle, and willow, helping to naturally strengthen the vine against fungal diseases.
This way of cultivating the vine reflects our deeply rooted, traditional vision of winegrowing: listening to nature, to living systems, and to the plant’s natural cycles, in order to seek a lasting balance between soil, vine, and people.
It continues the agricultural practices once carried out by previous generations, founded on observation, common sense, and respect for the natural environment. These simple principles, long at the heart of the winegrower’s craft, are those we aim to place back at the center of our work today — in contrast to a “more and more” approach to agriculture, often disconnected from environmental balance and the pursuit of quality.
