Carignan

About the Winery

Mas des Agrunelles

Frédéric Porro was an aspiring Motorcross rider until an accident left him in a wheelchair. This led him to a new passion - wine - after his sister asked him to put together the wine list for a restaurant. From that moment on, he became devoted to the grape. Mas des Agrunelles came about from his collaboration with Stéphanie Ponson – owner of Mas Nicot – in 2005 near Murles in Languedoc. Stéphanie and Frédéric met in 1999 while studying enology in Montpellier. The name of the estate comes from tall the wild sloe trees that surround the vineyards and sloe is ‘Agrunelles’ in old occitan.
The couple make wine with the same diligance and passion as other biodynamic winemakers have before them, it all began with experimentation, trial and error- but they quickly moved from organic vines to a fully functioning biodynamique vineyard and winery. They are proud to produce natural wines of high quality. Located 20 km to the northwest of Montpellier in the communes of Argelliers and La Boissiere, at an average altitude of 200 m, influenced by a cold wind coming from the Cevennes via St Martin de Londres, where both Mistral and Tramontane reach top speeds.

About the Winery

Domaine Frédéric Brouca

Frédéric grew up in Normandy and met his Canadian wife Elaine at university in Lille, Northern France. They live a nomadic lifestyle (Canada, India, Singapore and USA) though Frédéric spends about half of his time in Faugères. Since early age, Frédéric had a calling for farming and the fierce desire to become a winegrower. After completing a Masters Degree in Finance in 2001, Frédéric went back to college for a Sommelier diploma and started his career as a Burgundy wine broker.

In late 2012, Frédéric and Elaine were fortunate to take over 25 acres of old vines in Faugères, organically farmed for twenty years and deeply rooted in schist soils.

2013 was the inaugural vintage for Domaine Frédéric Brouca. In his modest winery in the village of Laurens, Frédéric is creating a new vision for Faugères wines; fresh, vibrant and made without artifice. Nothing revolutionary, simply returning to our grandparent's ideology of farming and winemaking to craft 'Vins Vivants'. The Faugères Appellation is in the heart of Languedoc in the Hérault department. Here, winemaking dates back to the Greek times and was developed during the Roman Era. It wasn't until the early 1900's, however, that the wines became more widely known for its unique schist soils and moderate Mediterranean climate. These villages are heavily reliant on wine as an important part of their culture and economy.

The area is stunning with mountain views and close proximity to the Mediterranean Sea (20 miles / 30 kms). Faugères has a long history of responsible farming. It boasts the highest percentage of organic vineyards for any AOC in all of France with almost 50% of farmers making the choice.