Vintage Faugeres
- Red
- Carignan (40%), Mourvèdre (30%), and Grenache (30%)
About Mas des Capitelles
Mas des Capitelles began in 1999, when ninth-generation vigneron Jean Laugé began bottling his own wine after a lengthy stint at the local co-operative, where his father—a driving force in the creation of the Faugères appellation in the early 1980s—had served as president.
Mas des Capitelles’ “Vintage” bottling showcases some of their extremely old Carignan plantings, with 40% of the blend coming from 80-year-old Carignan, and 30% each from Mourvèdre and Grenache. After a month-long maceration with a small proportion of semi-carbonically-fermented whole clusters, “Vintage” spends 24 months aging 80% in used French oak, with the remainder—Grenache exclusively, which takes less kindly to barrel—in fiberglass and enamel vats. Here, a ripe, softly brooding nose presents a tug-of-war between herby earth tones and velvety dark-red and black fruit, and the palate, while substantially structured, buffers its tannins politely but not ingratiatingly. This is consciously released after a few years of bottle age and will benefit from even more.