The Estate
Mas Carlot is a beautiful 17th-century Provençal farmhouse located in the Costières de Nîmes, in the south of the Rhône Valley. It stretches across 65 hectares north of the Camargue, where the vines are planted at 70 metres altitude, on pebbles rolled by the Rhône.
While the estate had long been cultivated with respect for nature and the soils, in 2017 Cyril Marès applied for organic farming certification.
After three years of conversion, this certification is now official.
While the estate had long been cultivated with respect for nature and the soils, in 2017 Cyril Marès applied for organic farming certification.
After three years of conversion, this certification is now official.
The Winemaker
Cyril always lived among the vineyards and orchards of his father Roger Marès. After studying agronomy, viticulture and oenology in Montpellier, he went to make wine on other continents before taking over the estate.
First in the USA at Chalone Vineyard in 1994, then in Chile with Bruno Prats, owner of Château Cos d'Estournel, and Paul Pontallier, manager of Château Margaux. These two harvests were the occasion for a trip around the world full of adventures, encounters and discoveries.
Cyril returned to the Costières de Nîmes at Mas des Bressades in 1996. Driven by his passion for wine and for the terroir of the Costières de Nîmes, his goal is to preserve the quality potential of the terroir with the greatest respect for the vines and soils.
"In each wine, I seek harmony between the different origins and components of the wine, so that everyone who drinks it feels the pleasure I had in making it."
First in the USA at Chalone Vineyard in 1994, then in Chile with Bruno Prats, owner of Château Cos d'Estournel, and Paul Pontallier, manager of Château Margaux. These two harvests were the occasion for a trip around the world full of adventures, encounters and discoveries.
Cyril returned to the Costières de Nîmes at Mas des Bressades in 1996. Driven by his passion for wine and for the terroir of the Costières de Nîmes, his goal is to preserve the quality potential of the terroir with the greatest respect for the vines and soils.
"In each wine, I seek harmony between the different origins and components of the wine, so that everyone who drinks it feels the pleasure I had in making it."
Cyril Marès
History
The Roman remains found near the Mas attest to its presence for over 2,000 years.
The current buildings date from the 17th century but were extensively remodelled in the 19th century by the de Grasset family.
A century later, Paul Blanc and then his daughter Nathalie fully restored this old Mas to give it back its former charm. Today, Cyril Marès carries on a seven-generation family tradition.
The Carlot estate was purchased on 5 August 1853 by Admiral de Grasset, who was then in the service of Ferdinand II of Bourbon, King of Naples and the Two Sicilies. Sensing the Italian revolution approaching, he wanted to secure his position. Subsequent events proved him right. He bought Mas Carlot from a certain Monsieur Louis Verdier, a resident of Nîmes. The property comprised a manor house, a farm building and 120 hectares of land. The admiral's grandson, Emmanuel Joachim de Grasset, died at Verdun during the First World War without leaving any descendants.
His mother, Countess de Grasset (née Heilbuth), died in 1943 and the property passed to her sisters, Madame de Lacroix and Madame de Faucamberge, as well as to the children of her brother, Monsieur Heilbuth. The Rossi tenant farmers maintained the land until 1947, when Mas Carlot was purchased by Monsieur Laurent. In 1956, his son Albin Laurent became the new owner by inheritance. A significant conversion to fruit-tree farming was carried out. Alas, ten years later, the trees were uprooted for economic reasons. He replaced the peach trees with vines, as it had been originally.
Paul and Danielle Blanc bought the estate in 1986 and restored it to its original appearance. In 1998, their daughter Nathalie, an oenologist with a degree in international wine trade, took over the management of the estate. Energetic and passionate, she focused on vineyard work, winemaking and wine ageing to allow the estate's terroir to express itself fully. Twenty years marked by vineyard renovation, cellar modernisation and commercial growth.
Since 2018, Cyril Marès has taken over the management of the estate. Trained as an agricultural engineer and oenologist, he oversaw the transition of the vineyard to organic farming. Faithful to a seven-generation family tradition that began in the 18th century in Languedoc, near Montpellier, he perpetuates both the estate's history and the family passions.
This tradition was brilliantly illustrated by Henri Marès (1820–1901), a friend of Pasteur and discoverer of the sulphur treatment for powdery mildew, a scourge of the vines, and by his brother Paul, a distinguished botanist who settled in Algeria where he could not resist establishing a vineyard. Their father, Etienne Marès (1780–1840), had left the family estate managed by his father, Pierre Marès (1758–1820), on the shores of the Étang de Thau, to become a wine merchant and later acquire the Château de Launac near Montpellier.
The current buildings date from the 17th century but were extensively remodelled in the 19th century by the de Grasset family.
A century later, Paul Blanc and then his daughter Nathalie fully restored this old Mas to give it back its former charm. Today, Cyril Marès carries on a seven-generation family tradition.
The Carlot estate was purchased on 5 August 1853 by Admiral de Grasset, who was then in the service of Ferdinand II of Bourbon, King of Naples and the Two Sicilies. Sensing the Italian revolution approaching, he wanted to secure his position. Subsequent events proved him right. He bought Mas Carlot from a certain Monsieur Louis Verdier, a resident of Nîmes. The property comprised a manor house, a farm building and 120 hectares of land. The admiral's grandson, Emmanuel Joachim de Grasset, died at Verdun during the First World War without leaving any descendants.
His mother, Countess de Grasset (née Heilbuth), died in 1943 and the property passed to her sisters, Madame de Lacroix and Madame de Faucamberge, as well as to the children of her brother, Monsieur Heilbuth. The Rossi tenant farmers maintained the land until 1947, when Mas Carlot was purchased by Monsieur Laurent. In 1956, his son Albin Laurent became the new owner by inheritance. A significant conversion to fruit-tree farming was carried out. Alas, ten years later, the trees were uprooted for economic reasons. He replaced the peach trees with vines, as it had been originally.
Paul and Danielle Blanc bought the estate in 1986 and restored it to its original appearance. In 1998, their daughter Nathalie, an oenologist with a degree in international wine trade, took over the management of the estate. Energetic and passionate, she focused on vineyard work, winemaking and wine ageing to allow the estate's terroir to express itself fully. Twenty years marked by vineyard renovation, cellar modernisation and commercial growth.
Since 2018, Cyril Marès has taken over the management of the estate. Trained as an agricultural engineer and oenologist, he oversaw the transition of the vineyard to organic farming. Faithful to a seven-generation family tradition that began in the 18th century in Languedoc, near Montpellier, he perpetuates both the estate's history and the family passions.
This tradition was brilliantly illustrated by Henri Marès (1820–1901), a friend of Pasteur and discoverer of the sulphur treatment for powdery mildew, a scourge of the vines, and by his brother Paul, a distinguished botanist who settled in Algeria where he could not resist establishing a vineyard. Their father, Etienne Marès (1780–1840), had left the family estate managed by his father, Pierre Marès (1758–1820), on the shores of the Étang de Thau, to become a wine merchant and later acquire the Château de Launac near Montpellier.
