france: languedoc
Mas Conscience, Terrasses du Larzac
"The hallmark of great Languedoc wine, though, is a seam of perfume (always heady, sometimes floral, sometimes herbal, sometimes pure-fruited) rippling through the wine from start to finish." —Andrew Jefford
Geneviève and Laurent Vidal founded Mas Conscience in 2003, on the outskirts of Saint-Jean-de-Fos. They came from the appellation of Pic-Saint-Loup, where they had started a domaine the preceding decade. The village of Saint-Jean-de-Fos had a special place in their hearts because both had spent their childhood years there. Moreover, the terroir, in the upper reaches of the Terrasses du Larzac, is superb. So when a friend offered them his vineyard parcels under financial duress, they accepted. The friend had converted to organic farming and suffered low yields as a result, but the cooperative he sold to paid only one price regardless of yield, farming methods, or quality. The Vidals sold their domaine, bought their friend’s vines, and built a cellar to make and bottle their own wines. They were not about to be beholden to the co-op.
The name Mas Conscience and the donkey logo come from the history of Saint-Jean-de-Fos. The village was known for its ceramics, which included large jugs used to store olive oil and wine, and to transport them via donkeys. During the Middle Ages, two abbeys were nearby, and every year the notables of Saint-Jean-de-Fos would each offer one or both abbeys a jug of oil or wine, according to their conscience. These were the Benedictine abbeys of Aniane, founded in 777, and Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, founded in 804.
From the beginning, the Vidals have worked their parcels biodynamically. Today, the domaine farms thirteen hectares (thirty-two acres) that break down into eighteen parcels in four principal plots. Laurent plows with a tractor, but sprays his various biodynamic concoctions with an all-terrain quad. This motorcycle is equipped with a fore and aft tank, a pump, and a custom-made hydraulic sprayer—actually, two, one above each rear wheel—that he had an artisan manufacturer make for him in Italy. It’s a nifty and extremely practical gadget, and it shows the kind of attention to detail that Laurent brings to his work.
The vineyards are in the Terrasses du Larzac, or Terraces of Larzac, a name coined by Olivier Jullien of Mas Jullien and codified as a sub-appellation of Côteaux du Languedoc in 2004. It refers to the limestone uplands on the far side of the Languedoc plain, inland from Montpellier and bordered to the north by the Causse du Larzac—a great limestone outcropping that rises as high as 800 meters, or 2,600 feet, and marks the beginning of the Cévenne Mountains (which in turn form a large southeastern stretch of the Massif Central). In the old days, this region was the staging point for trade between the interior and the Mediterranean coast. These days, it’s arguably the hottest region for viticulture in Languedoc due to its soils (primarily that limestone rubble so loved by French vines), its strong, drying winds that come whipping out of the Hérault River Gorge, and its wild swings of day and night temperature (as much as 68˚ F fluctuations!). The vineyards here are also among the highest in Languedoc. As an interesting aside, this zone overlaps part of the Roquefort Appellation for cheese, France’s first legally governed appellation, created in 1925.
Mas Conscience’s vineyards grow in two distinct terroirs. East of the Hérault River is the highly regarded terroir of Aniane, an ancient village whose slopes and terraces are composed of limestone rubble, gravel, and surrounded by the Languedocian underbrush known as garrigue. This terroir, bordered in a triangle by St-Jean-de-Fos, Aniane, and Puéchabon, is noted for wines of exceptional depth and elegance, and consequently has been called the Golden Triangle by journalists. In this zone the domaine has its old vine plantings of Carignan for the cuvée Le Cas and Cinsault for the cuvée Ciel-Cieux, as well as Grenache and Syrah for the basis of cuvée L’As.
West of the river, growing on the Hérault’s ancient riverbed, are the domaine’s white varieties and younger vines of Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvèdre. This ground is lower lying and strewn with galets roulets, or rolled stones much like those found in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. These vineyards make for fruitier wines.
The white undergoes fermentation and ageing in steel. The reds are made in cement vats except for L’As, which is made and aged in large wooden vats. All of the wines of Mas Conscience are remarkably refined, long, and elegant.
The wines:
- Vin de Pays de L’Hérault Cuvée L’In: L’In is a reference to inconscience, or to be unconscionable, because to make a white wine in the hot Midi is arguably beyond prudence or reason. This is the domaine’s only white wine, roughly half from Grenache Blanc, a quarter each from Roussanne and Vermentino, and finished with two or three percent of Viognier. The Vidals generally harvest their white grapes in the latter half of August to hold freshness. The wine goes through full malolactic fermentation to avoid a big dose of sulfur as well as a sterile filtration, yet it still retains its vivacious character. Some 500 cases are made annually.
- Languedoc Cuvée La Petite Prise: The introductory cuvée, made from equal parts of Grenache and Syrah, both from young vines growing on the old Hérault riverbed. Production is some 1,000 cases each year.
- Vin de Pays de L’Hérault Cuvée Ciel-Cieux: Literally sky-heaven, and a play on consciencieux, or conscientious. This is the first of two mono-cépage wines—which is why both are only allowed VdP status—in this case, Cinsault. The grape is often referred to as the Pinot Noir of Languedoc because it can be lithe and light of body yet full-flavored. This cuvée never rises above thirteen percent in alcohol. Some 650 cases are made annually.
- Vin de Pays de L’Hérault Cuvée Le Cas: The second single variety wine, this one being Carignan. Traditionally, Carignan was the workhorse of Languedoc, prized because it could survive the arid heat and produce a darkly colored wine with good acidity. In more recent times, it has been torn out in favor of more fashionable modern grapes such as Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Syrah. Mas Conscience thought that unjust, and puts this wine forth as their case to prove it. Around 1,250 cases are made each year.
- Languedoc Cuvée L’As: L’As means the ace, for this is the top wine from Geneviève and Laurent. An Anglo might think the name referred to the ass carrying the jugs of wine on the Mas Conscience labels, and he or she wouldn’t be wrong. Neither would it be wrong to think it referred to L’Assemblage, as this is a blended wine. It’s made from equal parts Grenache and Syrah, with some ten percent of Carignan, and comes from their highest vineyards in the terroir of Aniane. This is a finely detailed wine with great purity of fruit. Production averages 1,250 cases yearly.
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