Château Faiteau
Vendange

FAMILY WINEGROWING BUSINESS
SINCE 1920, 4TH GENERATION 

Château Faiteau is located in Languedoc, in the heart of the Minervois region, in La Livinière, the birthplace of the appellation : CRU LA LIVINIERE.

We benefit from an exceptional terroir. Situated on the vast amphitheatre made up of stony terraces, soubergues composed of sandstone and sandstone marl, and 1ères côtes composed of limestone.

Our vines are clinging to the foothills of the Montagne Noire, a real player in the semi-arid Mediterranean climate. Facing south, towards the Mediterranean Sea, which can be seen on the horizon.

A specific climate due to its location :
The Petit Causse zone is one of the earliest and warmest areas of the Minervois. Wines here are often concentrated, warm and complex, characterized by candied fruit aromas.

Our vineyard is subject to the Cers and the Marin, which are the dominant winds. There are between 250 and 300 days of wind per year and on average we have 315 days of sunshine per year.
Yesterday

In 2000, Jean Michel renovated an old cellar acquired by his parents, which results of the first bottles of Château Faiteau, with a unique personality and a selection of terroir and grape varieties.

In 2014, creation of new buildings: our reception, storage and maturing facilities adjoining the wine-making cellar.

In 2016, elimination of all pesticides and insecticides in our vineyards

In 2018, we officially committed ourselves to organic farming.
Today

We have 16 hectares of vines, which we work entirely with natural methods, mechanical techniques and organic alternatives adapted to our terroir, preserving biodiversity.

Since 2021, we have been officially recognised in organic farming.

We have reclaimed abandoned hillsides (following the re-parcelling) and replanted them according to traditional methods, which today offer us these parcels of high quality and with interesting characteristics, which we are looking for.

Most of the grape harvest is still done by hand.

Our bottling are made at the property. The wine is then matured in bottle for a few months before arriving on your table.
TOMORROW

We will be renewing part of the vineyard for the most ageing plots. Always on the move, replanting is an integral part of the evolution of the estate with of current climate issues.

We will continue our work of quality and patrimonial through respectful viticulture of humans and nature.

We will continue to develop our unique and exceptional terroir. To be a winegrower in a landscape garden, our landscape mosaic, to make our wines according to our identity and perpetuate in bottles, the Reflection of Nature and the Mosaic of Senses.
the team

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Jean Michel ARNAUD - Winegrower

« Some of the vines on the estate belonged to my great grandparents, my grandparents and my parents.

These vines are the beginning of the story.

For the oldest ones, they are counting their 70th year, worked with different methods according to the generations to continue today to work as close as possible to nature and respectful of human.

It is thanks to these family lands and my attachment to this exceptional territory that I was able to create the cellar and the estate of today : Château Faiteau. »

Stéphanie ARNAUD - Winegrower

« I love wine! Probably because I grew up in the middle of the vineyards, the woods that surrounded my family home in the Médoc, it was my playground. At the Sunday meals prepared by the women and which never ended, around good bottles of wine which were very often the subject of great discussions.

My attachment, my respect, my need for nature comes from there. Wild I was, wild I am.

To the deafening noise of the world, I prefer the serene company of the soothing silence of the vines and the cellar: my office.

The assembly of our meeting with Jean Michel, in 1996, gave us two beautiful children Floriane and Gaston, and an estate that we are building day after day, thrilling, full of twists and turns, joys and doubts... we go through a whole mosaic of sensations over the years of work, but with an enchanting finality: to offer you in our bottles, and beyond our local borders: our reflection of nature and our mosaic of meaning. »

Floriane ARNAUD - winegrower's daughter

« Wine in the baby bottle ? even so not !

My history with wine began with a drop in my large glass of water during family meals where my grandparents were maybe worried about the importance I would give it.

I was just 2 years old when my father started the business, so you could say that I was immersed in it from a very young age. I spent Wednesday afternoons there, days during the holidays... I will admit that it was not my favourite pastime. I preferred to watch the film of La Livinière, where my great-grandmother is shown preparing and explaining how to make faggots.

It was through these days that I understood what a family story is: having a common, intergenerational conviction, being proud of our land, of what we create, convinced of the work we do, of his quality, the transmission and sharing knowledge.

These are the memories I have today. The share in family, a passion and a pride that is passed on. »

The process of establishing rules and definitions began in the 1980s thanks to a handful of winegrowers and winemakers, culminating in the recognition of the first communal appellation area in Languedoc in February 1999.

The La Livinière appellation was born.

The first Roman settlers planted vines in this area, and in 1069, there is already mention of ‘Lavineira’, meaning ‘place planted with vines’, as the name of the village. What followed confirmed the exceptional potential of the La Livinière terroir, dominated by limestone, sandstone, sandy marl, schist and Quaternary terraces.

Alcohol abuse is dangerous for your health - The sale of alcohol is forbidden to under 18s.