At a glance

• Founded: 2004, by Annick and Alfred Perolari, out of a village cellar in Berlou
• Location: Berlou, AOC Saint-Chinian, in the Parc naturel régional du Haut-Languedoc
• Winemaker: Martin Perolari, who took over on his own in January 2019
• Vineyards: Seventeen hectares on the Berlou hillsides
• Farming: Organic: conversion began in 2018, certified from the 2021 vintage
• Speciality: Berlou: red-only, with a minimum of 30% Carignan, hand-harvested

The family

Martin Perolari took over here on his own in January 2019. His parents, Annick and Alfred, started the domaine in 2004 out of a village cellar in Berlou; Annick made the wine until 2016, when Martin joined her and they built a proper winery together. He moved quickly on certification - conversion began in 2018 and the organic certification runs from the 2021 vintage. Seventeen hectares on the Berlou hillsides. Martin is full of life and ideas and his range is worth exploring properly, but for now we’re starting with one wine.

The place

Berlou is a sub-appellation to the north of Saint-Chinian, and it is a proper piece of terroir. South-facing slopes between 250 and 450 metres, cooler nights than most places in southern France, and Ordovician schist - 400 to 500 million years old - that is looser and more free-draining than the clay-limestone to the south-east, so it holds less water and forces the vines to dig. Perfect for making wines of character, basically.

One thing worth knowing about the appellation: Saint-Chinian splits diagonally, schist to the north-west, clay-limestone to the south-east. Berlou and Roquebrun are the two schist villages, and the local saying is that Berlou advocates for Carignan while Roquebrun champions Syrah. The Berlou rules require a minimum of 30% Carignan, hand-harvesting, and the wine cannot be released until December of the year after harvest. Berlou is red-only.

The village has 219 people in it. In 1988 the commune had 63 farms; by 2020 it had 19. It sits inside the Parc naturel régional du Haut-Languedoc.

The story behind the name

Caudomato is an Occitan word, and Martin’s own explanation is that caudo means hot and mato refers to the garrigue scrub. It is a south-facing plot above 350 metres where summer temperatures pass 40°C, planted with Carignan that is around eighty years old. Elsewhere in the range there is a wine called Les Jardins Suspendus - the Hanging Gardens - named for Berlou’s terraced vineyards, and a white called Kalliope, named after Martin’s Cretan great-grandmother.

The wine

We're listing one wine for now, and it’s a good one.

Domaine de Cambis, Caudomato Rouge 2023

£19

Carignan, Grenache, Syrah · AOC Saint-Chinian Berlou

It needs to open up and then it’s generous, spicy, voluptuous but not too heavy. There’s grit and volume. It’s the sort of wine you have to come back to, to peel its layers, like a good album.

Shop Caudomato Rouge

Browse the full Languedoc and Roussillon range, or take the six-bottle case - one wine from each of our six growers, including Gayda, Monplézy and La Dourbie.