The story
Château Cesseras is the serious side of the Ournac family: powerful red wines from Cru La Livinière, the very first communal cru appellation in Languedoc, established in 1999. The name La Livinière comes from the Occitan «Lavineira», first mentioned in 1069 – "the place planted with vines." The family has farmed this land since 1840, today in the seventh and eighth generation.
The wines are built around Syrah, alongside Mourvèdre, Grenache and Carignan, partly aged in oak barrels. The slopes lie beneath the Montagne Noire, on limestone clay, tempered by cool mountain air. The family favours finesse over weight – Syrah in velvet gloves, as they put it themselves. That they master it was proven in 2014, when Château Cesseras La Livinière 2011 won the international Decanter trophy.
The estate is run today by siblings Camille and Fanély together with their cousin Guillaume. Camille trained as a winemaker (œnologue) in Burgundy and gained winemaking experience from New Zealand to South Africa before returning home in 2017; Fanély is an agronomist with a background in organic fruit farming. They continue the work their father Pierre-André and uncle Jean-Yves began in 1985, when the estate left the cooperative.
One of the plots still holds a Roman villa – a reminder that this land has been farmed since antiquity. Cesseras is one of three names from the same family: Domaine Coudoulet is the single-variety wines, Ournac Frères the experimental small batches. Same family, same hands – three different expressions.
Three estates, one family
Château Cesseras is part of the Ournac family, closely tied to Domaine Coudoulet and Ournac Frères.