Clos Fantine Faugères 'Cuvée Tradition' Rouge 2020

Clos Fantine is a small family winery located in Languedoc, municipality of Cabrerolles, the Faugères AOC, Southern France. Siblings Caroline, Olivier, and Corine Andrieu inherited the winery from their father, who had taken over from his father, making Clos Fantin a multi-generational family business.

The estate totals around 30 hectares planted mostly with Mourvèdre, Grenache, Terret Blanc and Gris, Cinsault, Syrah, and Aramont all farmed organically. All varietals grow as bush vines, untrellised that is, which according to the siblings favors the biodiversity of their land.

The Andrieu siblings only work with native yeast, which they believe is the most important aspect of winemaking. They avoid pump-overs or remuage and instead they break up solid matter caps by pouring over wine. Clos Fantine wines are made as naturally as possible with no fining, filtration or added sulfites.

One of France's more overlooked wine-growing regions, Languedoc-Roussillion — a massive historical territory that spans from the coastal border with Spain to the coastline of Provence in southeastern France — now offers some of the highest-quality red and white wines. An area once known for generic bulk wine production – more than a third of French wine output is here – viticulture in the Languedoc-Roussillion (also known simply as "The Languedoc") has evolved significantly over the past 30 years. At the same time, winemakers have maintained their historic focus on varietal blending without the strict winemaking rules and with creative freedom not found in Burgundy and Bordeaux.

Although usually grouped as a single region, Languedoc-Roussillon can also be understood as distinct areas. Languedoc, comprised of three of the five départements, is culturally and historically tethered to France. In contrast, Roussillon has historical ties with Catalonia, an autonomous community in Spain's northeast.

While the majority of Langeudoc's production is still IGP (Indication Géographique Protégée, a lower-quality category of French wine just above table wines) wines, the region contains 23 AOCs (appellation d'origine contrôlée, the main geographical indication for French wines), which together comprise around 16 percent of the region's total production.