Languedoc Uncorked : Domaine d'Aupilhac in AOC Montpeyroux

It was 41°C when I arrived in front of the cellar of Domaine d'Aupilhac in the quaint village of Montpeyroux. This visit had been planned long before a heatwave swept across the area, as it did much of France, and of course, I had managed to arrive on what would turn out to be the hottest day of it. That being said, the heat didn't stop me from making my way to Domaine d'Aupilhac to meet Sylvain and Désirée Fadat, the couple behind the estate.

I had first tasted their cuvée Les Cocalières at the Millésime BIO trade fair. It was a truly magical tasting with a surpising amount of emotion. I had been wanting to visit the domaine ever since.

Domaine d'Aupilhac: From Melons and Asparagus to Purely Vines

Sylvain Fadat comes from a true Languedoc family, despite being born up north, with his grandparents and generations before them rooted in the region. Vines had always been part of family life. His father pursued a career in scientific research but never lost what Sylvain calls his “âme paysanne”, his “peasant soul” and continued to cultivate a few vines alongside his professional life.

For Sylvain, this meant growing up with vines all around him and with everything that came with them. The work, the seasons, the landscape and the rhythm of life that follows the vineyard were all woven into the fabric of his childhood.

After a degree in viticulture and oenology, Sylvain took the plunge in 1989. He would make his own wine from the only remaining plot his grandfather had left him, a five-acre, south-facing parcel planted mainly with Carignan, located at the place called Aupilhac in Montpeyroux.

His father recommended that he produce his wine at the local cooperative, as many small winemakers did at the time, but the family didn't have enough shares. So, with little means at his disposal, he decided to make do with what he could get his hands on. That meant two lorry tanks, which he installed in his grandmother's garden. It didn't cost him much to get started. He had the land, the vines and some makeshift tanks. All that remained was to wait for the grapes.

At the time, Carignan had a terrible image. There were even campaigns to have the variety ripped out. The Languedoc was still largely associated with low-quality wines, often heavy and rustic, and Carignan had been widely used in their production. Sylvain had also made a small quantity of white from a few Ugni Blanc vines, as well as a rosé de saignée from Syrah he had planted three years earlier. The red was good and Sylvain was confident he could sell it to a few merchants, even if it meant avoiding the word Carignan.

Despite the red grape's reputation, he decided to bottle all the wine anyway, red, white and rosé, totalling 30,000 bottles. He then went up to Paris.

A Wine Turned Down by the French but Loved by the English

French merchants and restaurants, upon hearing that the wine came from the Languedoc, often showed little interest. But some English people in the city opened their doors to him. As Sylvain recalls, “the English tasted my wine and didn't have any negative prejudices about our region."

Among those interested were figures such as Mark Williamson and Tim Johnston who were instrumental in the renewal of the Côte-Rôtie and Northern Rhône wine scene. Sylvain's wines found their way into some of Paris's first wine bars including Maceo and Juveniles. Today, wine bars are everywhere but in the 1990s the concept was still relatively new.

Not long afterwards, the wines were introduced to the American importer Kermit Lynch and then to another English importer, Miss Berry, on Old Brompton Road in London.

Paris gave Sylvain hope. As he puts it: “You have to be confident in what you do and get on with it.”

Within a year, Sylvain had sold all his wine and, in 1993, he built his cellar in Montpeyroux.

A Vineyard of Mediterranean Grapes

Domaine d'Aupilhac is, first and foremost, a vineyard of Mediterranean grape varieties. Old and young vines of Cinsault and Carignan, the latter expanded after the success of Sylvain's first wine grow alongside Mourvèdre, Grenache and Syrah, with smaller parcels of indigenous varieties like Clairette Rose and Clairette Blanche scattered throughout.

Trends don't interest Sylvain and Désirée. They don't plant a grape because it's fashionable or in demand, Chardonnay being the obvious example. They're in the South, so they plant southern varieties, grapes that answer to this climate and this terroir, not to whatherver the current market dictates.

What struck me just as much was Sylvain's vision of the vines themselves. At Aupilhac, old and young vines aren't ranked against each other. The idea that age alone makes a better wine genuinely baffles him, a vine isn't good simply because it's old. A wine can be good because it's Cinsault, because the variety has something to give on its own, even from a vine that requires less work and gives back a more balanced crop.

His view of young vines follows the same logic. He doesn't see them as lesser versions of old vines, more like children. They need more attention early on, more guidance, more care. "You have to manage their load and help them find their balance," he explained, "so that one day they can become more independent."

It's a simple way of looking at viticulture, as it should be, but it says a lot about how Sylvain and Désirée work. The vine isn't something you force into a predetermined idea of what it should become. It's something you accompany, observe, and let find its own balance.

Two Plots, Two Expressions

Domaine d'Aupilhac has two main plots, Aupilhac, the starting point of Sylvain's winemaking story, and Cocalières, which came slightly later. Both sit on either side of the Castellas de Montpeyroux, the beautiful 11th-century castle that overlooks the village.

Aupilhac is south-facing, at the foot of the castle. Surrounded by Mediterranean vegetation, it represents the warmer side of the estate, planted with the traditional varieties of the Languedoc, including Carignan, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, Syrah and Grenache, alongside a number of white and grey varieties, including Carignan Blanc, Clairette, Ugni Blanc, and Grenache Gris amoung others.

Aupilhac plot

On the other side of the hill lies a magnificent natural amphitheatre, where Cocalières quietly sits, facing north at the foot of Mont Saint-Baudille, at 350 metres high. Sylvain told me a lovely story as we drove up to the plot. Not far from Cocalières is La Grotte des Fées, the Cave of Fairies. I have visited the cave a couple of times with my husband, so I was pleasantly surprised when we took the road leading towards it to reach the plot.

Cocalières plot

He explained that his mother's maiden name was Baumes, which in the local dialect is connected to the word for cave. His father's surname, Fadat, comes from the Occitan verb fadar, meaning “to bewitch” or “to enchant”, and historically described someone as “touched by the fairies”. By pure coincidence, the name of the cave brought his parents' names together. Sylvain joked that it was almost as though the place had been waiting for him.

So he planted vines right beside it. “I guess it was destiny,” he told me.

The place had always been part of his childhood, first through visits with his parents and later with his own daughters. And while he had initially been looking for a cooler site in which to plant vines, Cocalières offered something more than that. It was a place he already knew, loved and had a personal connection to.

As its name suggests, this is where the Cocalières cuvées, both red and white, come from. The plot faces north, making it cooler than Aupilhac and allowing for a different style of wine. The landscape itself was shaped by a rare geological event millions of years ago, when a volcanic explosion created a maar, a lake formed within the crater of a volcano. It is an unusual site and one that Sylvain has learned to work with rather than impose upon.

Here, Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre form the classic southern blend behind the red Cocalières, while the white brings together Marsanne, Roussanne, Clairette, Grenache Blanc and Vermentino. Every variety has its place, chosen for where it'll thrive best.

The whole estate is certified organic and biodynamic.

Domaine d'Aupilhac: The Wines

Sylvain and Désirée produce wines under a couple of appellations, including AOC Montpeyroux Languedoc, which obtained its Cru status this year. Sylvain is also president of the Union de Défense du Cru Montpeyroux, working alongside other local producers to defend and develop the identity of the appellation.

The Montpeyroux AOC is a red-only appellation. Its wines are built around the region's traditional varieties, Carignan, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah at their core, complemented by Cinsault, Counoise and Morrastel as accessory grapes. The appellation requires blends of at least three varieties and ageing until October 15 of the year following harvest.

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The couple also produce wines under AOP Languedoc and Vin de France, allowing them to work with a broader range of varieties and expressions.

By this point, I had completely lost track of time. To my biggest delight, what was meant to be a visit had turned into more than three hours among the vines. The tasting that followed was a vertical of their Cinsault wines, which I had come to explore for an article I am currently researching, alongside a bottle of Cocalières for comparison.

The Tasting

We began with a vertical tasting of Aupilhac's Cinsault. Two vintages in particular were a coup de cœur for me, but I'm saving the full tasting notes for the dedicated Cinsault article, so I'll only discuss one here.

The 2023 was wonderfully fine and juicy, scented with rose petal and peony, red fruit, crushed thyme and rosemary, and a touch of crushed spice. Gourmand and silky, with beautifully integrated tannins. We then opened a 2024 Cocalières, a blend of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre, to taste alongside the Cinsault. Both wines are made from different grapes and different plots yet there was a recognisable thread between the two. Both gave freshness, red fruit, spice, garrigue. Cocalières brought its own signature, too with its a silky texture, spicy length, and an easy-drinking elegance.

For Sylvain, that connection is no coincidence. The same terroir gives the wines their personality, much like DNA. Having spent the afternoon walking through the vineyards, it was fascinating to taste that idea in practice. There may be different expressions but there was something unmistakably shared between them.

As I stepped out of the cellar and back into the heat, I couldn't help but feel a certain emotion. Sylvain's way of explaining things was simple, honest, yet somehow extremely captivating. You could sense the passion in his storytelling, in his wines and in the land he works. But above all, you could sense the conviction.

Conviction in the terroir. Conviction in nature. Conviction in the vines. There is a deep belief in the place in allowing it to speak for itself. And it's what makes the wine so magical. I couldn’t help but wonder whether the fairies had been at work after all.

Thank you Sylvain and Désirée for such a warm welcome.

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Disclosure: this visit was not commissioned. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.