The family of Françoise Le Calvez—parents, son and daughter—manage Château Coupe Roses with passion and acumen high in the Mediterranean hinterlands. Château Coupe-Roses is located in the village of La Caunette within the Minervois appellation. Their vineyards, now all farmed completely biodynamically, are in Le Causse and Le Petit Causse. These two delimited areas make up the highest growing zones in the Minervois appellation. At 750 to 1,350 feet above sea level, these zones have relatively cool nights and the growing season is the longest in the AOC.

Today their vineyard holdings total 86 acres. The soil is a classic French mix of limestone and clay, with the accent decidedly on limestone. The mountain elevations make for a cool microclimate in the sunny south of France, and this shows distinctly in their wines. In broad tastings of Minervois, Coupes Roses invariably lands on the fresh end of the spectrum. The wines from Coupe Roses have excellent acidity and freshness, which Françoise always favored over the heavy and plodding characteristics of overripe wines.

In the cellar, all ferments are permitted to happen spontaneously, without additions of yeast or enzymes. The only additive used is one to two grams of SO2 at bottling on certain cuvees. Chateau Coupe Roses works particularly on mouthfeel and texture rather than on aromatic intensity or a simple expression of fruit. This involves specific winemaking techniques, some using whole clusters, all fermented at low temperature, and generally with short macerations of about a week. They believe it is important to preserve the energy of the wine, racking it while it is still warm and cloudy rather than cold and clear.