An exceptional location encased by nature…
Located in the Languedoc region, 20 kilometers north/west of Nîmes and 40 kilometers north of Montpellier. Between the Mediterranean and the Cevennes mountains, Mas Costeplane benefits from a sunlit climate, often scorching hot in summer and with nearly a hundred frost ridden nights in winter. With more than two kilometers from their closest neighbor, the winery and its vines are isolated, surrounded by hills covered in garrigue with a blend of pine trees, green oaks, and aromatic plants. The peacefulness of this area enchants the visitors, the winemaker and their three donkeys.
A history spanning several centuries, but the adventure of which goes back much further. With a history that reaches back hundreds of centuries, the oldest deed of sale of the property dates to 1405. You can still find ruins of a church and some roof tiles from this period scattered at the top of the Syrah field. The majestic green oak tree that watches over the grapes is also from that time.
The walls of the winery date back to 1850 and have seen many changes. In its time, the building has been a sheep farm, a winery, a silk farm and, until 1960, a horse stable. Many generations have contributed to give the winery the character it has today.
In 1989, when the wine cellar was built, Mas Costeplane decided to produce organic wines. Convinced by the excellent gustatory quality of biodynamic wines, they certified with the Demeter lable in 2011.
Terroir, biodiversity, and pristine nature
The vineyard is located at the extreme north end of Languedoc appellation. A few kilometers from the Pic Saint-Loup and border to the Duché d’Uzès appellation. Our vines are planted on an isolated plateau in a clay and limestone soil.
Surrounded by hills dominates by garrigue and green oak trees, this space is a well-kept secret only few know about.
Benefiting from the descending fresh air of the Cevennes Mountains, even during the summer nights, the climate allows a slower maturation than in the Languedoc plains, this giving our wines vivacity and a nice freshness.
The winery is adjacent to a beekeeper, the hard-working bees can be heard buzzing around the fields The costeplane soils have not seen pesticides for over half a century, the biodiversity is thriving, which bring great joy to us and our visitors. Insects, butterflies, birds, lizards, bats, but also spiders and scorpions, we are recording them little by little. It is fascinating to hear and to see a golden Oriole, to cross path with a death’s head sphinx, or to see a great night peacock in the corner of a window.
Springtime time means the return of the birds and soon the heat will bring back the singing cicadas and crickets.
Our soil, our vines, and our grape varieties
Far away from over exploited vineyards, where vines are being depleted and being pulled up after only 20 years, Mas Costeplane has a vineyard of 24 hectares. The oldest vines are our Carignan, they were planted in 1958, pruned in a goblet fashion, the old lady is over 60 years of age and is not yet retired. Il faut dire qu’on la bichonne. Our two other Carignans are nearly as old, they were planted in 1968 and our oldest Grenache was planted in 1970.
The rest of the vines are a bit more recent as the planting campaign was between 1988 and 1995. They are therefore in their prime.
In total we grow seven grape varieties: Vermentino, Grenache Blanc and Chardonnay for our white wine and Syrah, Grenache noir, Carignan, and Merlot for our reds.
Each plot is vinified separately, this diversity allows us to produce, during the February blending, a large variety of wines with their very own characteristics. We have three classifications for our wines, AOP Languedoc, IGP Cevennes and Vin de France.
In 2020 we started a new 6 hectares planting campaign, we wish to reach 30-hectare vineyard in the next few years. This year we planted Vermentino and Grenache Blanc. The goal is to respond to the demand because we are consistently out of stock each year in June of the Vermentino. We also want to be able to create new wines using these varieties.
Our soil, our vineyard, and our passion
Mas Costeplane is a small winery with a multidisciplinary team of five.
From the pruning of the vines to the bottling process, Mas Costeplane is autonomous. This allows us to have flexibility which is necessary to a winery that respects natural cycle of the plants and the evolution of the wines.
Owned until 2018 by the Coste family, they were ahead of their time regarding organic wine making, the history of the winery continues with Loïc Manchec who took over in March 2019. The transition started in September 2018 with Loïcs arrival and continued with the transfer of valuable knowledge until the end of October 2019.
Loïc, he started out as a paper engineer with a French and international career. In 2016 he takes the decision to realize his dream he had for over 15 years. He starts to study wine making in Bordeaux. There he will mingle with technical teams from some of the most prestigious Bordelais chateaux. Convinced by the potential of the Languedoc wines and the necessity to respect and to live in harmony with nature. His encounter with Françoise and Vincent Coste sealed the deal.
Saïd, he has worked at Mas Costeplane for over 14 years, he knows every nook and cranny of every plot. He protects, observes, and cares for the vines. He also does all the small repairs needing done at the Mas or on the tractors.
Driss began working at the domain in 2020. Most of the time he is working in the vineyard. He prunes, he disbuds, he does the thinning out of the leaves…
Vincent, he is the quiet force of the cellar. He joined us on the first day of the harvest in 2019. He watches over the wines, he closely follows the fermentation and vinification process, he does the stirring in the oak barrels, and he regularly tastes the wines to prepare for the blending and the bottling.
Emilie, she is the smile on the phone and at the office. She greats you at the Mas, she makes sure your orders are dealt with and she prepares them with care so that they are sent out on time. Emilie also sends out our wines to the competitions (where we regularly win medals), she also is present at all the wine fairs.
Our team would not be complete with a key person, Adeline, our oenologist. She has been following Mas Costeplane for the last 12 years and has contributed to the creation of many of our cuvées. She is at the Mas every two days during the vinification process, she is a joy to watch during the blending process that she does with such ease.