Since Greek merchants introduced vine cultivation to the region more than 2,000 years ago, the Corbières area of Languedoc has been intrinsically linked to winegrowers and wine. Recognising that the conditions were ideal for growing vines in Corbières, Cistercian monks began developing viticulture in the region as early as the 12th century. These monks were renowned as highly skilled winegrowers, and their agricultural estates soon became very prosperous.

Caraguilhes was one such estate, and one of the largest. Ideally located in the Boutenac terroir, Caraguilhes, formerly a grange belonging to Fontfroide Abbey, covers 600 hectares, including 135 hectares of contiguous vineyard surrounded by 500 hectares of Mediterranean scrubland known as garrigue.

The garrigue forms a magnificent natural amphitheatre around the vines, sheltering the cultivated land like a protective setting.

Never fragmented throughout its history, Caraguilhes has remained intact, preserving its integrity and authenticity.

La garrigue forme autour de la vigne un cirque grandiose et naturel qui protège comme un écrin les terres cultivables.

Jamais morcelé au cours de l’histoire, Caraguilhes est resté intact et a su préserver son intégrité et son authenticité.

En 2005, Pierre Gabison, profondément épris des vins de Caraguilhes et de la région, reprend en main la direction de Caraguilhes. Cela fait aujourd’hui 20 ans que Pierre accompagne ce lieu et son histoire.

Our vines are strategically surrounded and protected by 500 hectares of garrigue, creating a rich ecosystem and a unique environment.

Located approximately 30 kilometres from the Mediterranean Sea, at elevations ranging from 100 to 200 metres, on the foothills of the limestone massif of Saint-Victor, the Caraguilhes vineyard faces north-northwest towards the Tramontane, a wind that naturally keeps the vines healthy and dry. This wind also brings freshness to the vineyard during the hot summer days, allowing the grapes to ripen more slowly and evenly.

Caraguilhes is ideally located in the heart of the Corbières massif, linking the Pyrenees with the Mediterranean.

In 2005, the Corbières Boutenac appellation was officially recognised.

Renamed Boutenac in 2024, it now brings together thirty winegrowers and producers whose shared ambition is to create added value for this exceptional territory stretching along the foothills of the Pinada and Saint-Victor massifs.

This appellation was born from a dynamic collective. People have played a fundamental role in achieving this recognition. In Boutenac, the soul of the wine is… human.

The wines are shaped around Carignan.

A historic grape variety of the Corbières, Carignan is particularly well suited to drought and summer heat. It thrives in the Miocene molasse soils that characterise the appellation : relatively deep, clay-sandy soils that swell with winter rainfall and release water gradually during the hot, dry summers.

It became the emblematic grape variety of the appellation from the very beginning.

At the time, it was quite an achievement to establish it in the appellation’s specifications, as Carignan was not considered one of the more noble grape varieties.

But in Boutenac, we plant it, cherish it, select it and vinify it … to create wines with a distinctive personality.

The great diversity of soils we studied when we arrived at the estate in 2007 — clay, sandy-clay, limestone and rounded pebbles — combined with the vineyard’s different aspects and exposures, creates ideal growing conditions in which each grape variety can find its place and express its identity.

Like the vineyards of the Boutenac appellation, our vines grow on relatively deep soils made up of Miocene molasses, with varying proportions of sandstone and clay, which function like genuine sponges. The rainfall, normally abundant in autumn and spring, is absorbed by these molasses and then released “on demand” during the summer. Water availability is therefore remarkably consistent, allowing the vines to withstand the hot summer days.

Each parcel has its own unique character, and we strive to preserve this diversity in the way our grapes and wines express themselves. We have sought to find the best possible match between grape variety, rootstock, soil and exposure in order to produce balanced wines that reflect their place of origin.