Once upon a time, the Castle

Dating back at least 800 BC, the Château de Mus represents one of the largest archaeological sites in Hérault, illustrating the prehistoric, Celtic, Roman, Greek and Etruscan ages.

The estate was named after an ancient fortified place called « Murus » (« rampart » in Latin) , built up on a promontory over the Orb river. At MUS, a Romanesque church was built in 1070 (today its restoration is in progress) such as one of the six first castles of the area.

Twice destroyed during the crusade against the Cathars in the 13th C. the former mansion was replaced in 1848 by a Renaissance-style castle, prefiguring the great times of the “wine chateaux”.

Let’s continue the visit with the Chapel

Two churches existed in the seigneury of Mus: Saint-Pierre and Saint-Martin, they depended on the Chapter of Saint-Nazaire of Béziers. Saint-Pierre church is mentioned in 1115 but his origin seems older. Both churches were ruined at the end of the 16th century, during the religion wars. In the 17th century, Saint-Martin was abandoned. A century later, it is mentioned as “casal” in the compoix of 1733.

Saint-Pierre is restored at the same time as the castle but the bell tower and the rectory destroyed during the religion wars are not rebuilt. In 1693, new repairs: some arches, pillars and vaults, coated, paved, new stone altar, 3 stone buttresses outside.

When the Sahuc family bought the church in 1823 from the Murviel factory, it was in a deplorable state..

The new owner had it restored to worship.

For 3 years, this chapel is again under restoration directed by M. Gondard. The removal of the exterior coating showed a superb siding in different shades of ochre and basalt arcatures; part of the buttresses – very massive – was removed, an old door reappeared. The chapel has 1 vessel and 3 bays, the apse is semi-circular.

And finally, let’s discover the Vineyard

The vineyard consists of the traditional grape varieties of the protected designations of the languedoc, the Grenache, the Syrah, the Mourvèdre, the Cinsault, for the terroir in A.O.P, and a varied range of grape varieties of the different French regions for the part Pays d’Oc, With Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Pinot Noir, Tannat, Marselan, Muscat, Grenache Gris, Sauvignon, Vermentino, Wine…

The vineyard of the estate extends over the high old terraces of the river Orb, composed of sandygravel materials, consolidated with red clays

It’ s a precious terroir of the Coteaux du Languedoc and St Chinian appellation. This terroir is exclusively composed, over tens of meters of depth, of gravel that perfectly drains the soil and allows the roots to sink deeply, thus giving mineral wines to the fine tannins. Mus stretches along the Languedoc foothills, protected from the prevailing winds by the first foothills of the Massif Central.

The geographical location is ideal, at exactly the same distance from the Mediterranean as from the Caroux mountains. The climatic influences are thus perfectly balanced. Added to this is the influence of the Orb which plays a role of regulating the minimum and maximum temperatures.