Faugères 2021 vintage rating: 4 / 5
Faugères 2020 vintage rating: 4.5 / 5
In the foothills of the Cévennes mountains, with vineyards dotted across dips and slopes between 150m and 400m altitude, Faugères is synonymous with schist soils. With its flaky sheets that crack and crumble, schist allows the roots of the vines to slither deep down through its layers, in search of the droplets of water that reside there.
The majority of production is red, at 79%, with only 4% of white. One of the most impressive and forward thinking actions of the appellation in the last 15 years has been the ban on herbicide use, which was entered into the appellation regulations in 2011. 50% of producers practise organic viticulture, and ‘everyone has taken measures to reduce chemical entrants in the soil,’ says Jérôme Salles, vice president of the only cooperative winery in Faugères, Mas Olivier.
