Mas des Armes celebrates its 10th anniversary

Winegrowers’ portraits Aniane

Mas des Armes celebrates
its 10th anniversary

A great score for the Puccini brothers

Marc and Régis Puccini are attached to the land. And yet they really only became
involved in winegrowing ten years ago. With the determination to succeed, and recognition
for their success from Philippe Faure-Brac, among others. We met them at Aniane,
in the heart of an exceptional terroir in Languedoc.

Marc et Régis Puccini

Having neighbours such as Aimé Guibert, the creator of the famous Mas de Daumas Gassac, and Laurent Vaillé, from the Domaine de la Grange des Pères, inevitably creates certain obligations. In particular that of aiming for perfection, if one also intends to take up winegrowing…

Marc and Régis Puccini, two brothers approaching fifty, were well aware of this ten years ago, when they acquired an estate whose grapes had hitherto been sent to the Aniane coope­rative winery.

Aniane is a magical terroir in the Hérault département, North of Montpellier, an hour away from their base. For they in fact reside near Lunel, on 350 ha of agricultural land, already living in harmony with the seasons. Their business was vegetable growing, with three main products: asparagus, melons and lettuce. They are the grandsons of Emilia and Italo, who came from Italy in 1927 to work as farm employees. They rolled up their sleeves to make their parents' legacy grow, by becoming the directors of a company employing forty people all year round.

A terroir with character and ambition

However, beyond this success, they felt the need to express themselves in a new way. To live their passion. “In the middle of the 1990s, it was kind of a joke between us: why don't we buy a wine estate? Then the idea gained traction. It was time to lay down some rules for ourselves. We had to find a terroir with a high potential, in the heart of a region we feel at home in.
Next, because we were determined to do things properly, we needed adequate resources, for it requires much more patience to produce wine than it does to grow lettuce.”
In 2001, they found this 42 ha property, which included 27 ha of vineyard. “It was right in the middle of the Mondavi phenomenon, who was going to buy here. We couldn't miss this opportunity and straight away we pulled out 15 ha and replanted 9. And we started to re-organise the remaining 12 ha. As this was not our core business, and even though we have never had regrets, we have often had to admit we were somewhat reckless, given the sheer extent of the work involved. But at least, by investing a lot of our time, we quickly demonstrated that the Mas des Armes, from the name of a plot, was not an expensive folly!”

The requisite means to expand well

In 2003, in the wake of the acquisition, the first harvest was managed in a very artisanal way. “Despite somewhat archaic working conditions, we produced 30,000 bottles with the determination to present a fine wine in each of the four cuvees produced as Vin de Pays de l’Hérault.” Commercialised in 2005, this first vintage made its mark. The vintages that followed have all confirmed the brothers' ambition to achieve quality. To the two red wines and two whites, they quickly added a rosé, and then the 360 du Mas des Armes, blended from a selec­tion of Cabernet and Syrah. The reference.
While their wines were finding a clientele, for the most part in France, Marc and Régis Puccini continued to invest in the construction of a set of two buildings. Four years have been necessary to complete this operation to add a vat-house, reception rooms, garage, workshop, storage space and even some apartments to accommodate guests to the estate.

Today, production has almost tripled and the work remains just as exacting. “We pick the grapes plot by plot and each plot is vinified in a specific vat. And as we have 30 plots, varying in size from 20 ares to 2 ha, this means the same number of vats…”

The memory of Paul Léaunard

This approach aroused the curiosity of Paul Léaunard, the late President of the Sommeliers Association of the Alpes-Marseille-Provence region, who was won over from his first sip of the wines. “At the beginning of the spring in 2005, he was the first person from the profession to taste the vintages we were preparing to sell. Enthusiastic about ‘L’Âme des Pierres’ and ‘Perspectives’, he offered to help us and incited us to make ourselves known. We shall never forget the trade fair at Théoule-sur-Mer: he joined us on our stand and all the sommeliers came to try our wares…”

The ties of friendship that grew up between the three men are still meaningful today. “We are aiming to produce 100,000 bottles thanks to new vines that are coming online. We also intend to work on the image of our wines; nothing in the world would make us change the spirit and the methods that won over this sommelier, to whom we owe so much…”

In mid-October, the 2013 harvest was brought in at the end of an ideal start to the autumn, and the two brothers are now able to let time and nature do their work. In January, the time will come to work on the blending. “The path has now been traced for us to distance ourselves from vegetables and be able to devote more time to the vineyard”, say Marc and Régis, in conclusion.

Philippe Faure-Brac: “Wines of real character”

Best Sommelier in the World in 1992 and Parisian restaurateur on boulevard Haussmann, Philippe Faure-Brac never misses an occasion to amble among the vines. And yet he was not the one who discovered the produce of Mas des Armes. It was a gift from his friend Paul Léaunard, a bottle of white wine, which whetted his appetite: “Once I had tasted the whole of the range, I realised that these were wines of real character. After my first meeting with Régis Puccini, I understood the spirit that underpinned the work of these two winegrowers and I wanted to get to know their estate. I therefore had a taste of the start of the adventure and in ten years, the quality has continued to improve, as has the finesse.”

At the Bistrot du Sommelier, the customers allow themselves to be guided the first time, and then fall under the spell. “People like the density of these wines, their structure but also their fine, elegant texture.”
Philippe Faure-Brac was talked into participating in the work of blending. “It is a fine experience to be able to walk round the plots and imagine what the 360 vintage could be like (40% Syrah and 60% Cabernet) or Perspectives (40% Syrah, 20% Grenache, 20% Cabernet and 20% Merlot). These wines are deliberately destined for gastronomy by two men who listen attentively and know how to select the right partners. Two brothers who know how to create an intelligent expression of what others contribute. Their strength lies in their enthusiasm and motivation for a universe they only discovered relatively late in the day, and in their ability to stay focussed and eschew hit and miss tactics! Giving thought to the whole process is another one of their strengths.”
Jean Bernard



Domaine du Mas des Armes

Route de Capion
34150 Aniane - France
Tél. : +33 (0) 4 67 29 62 30 www.lemasdesarmes.com