Explore Château Capitoul, Languedoc, on France's 'secret' Mediterranean coast - Scotland on Sunday Travel

With onsite winery and landscaped gardens, this chateau has the facilities of a hotel with the privacy of a rental

Its distinctive turret casts a commanding, regal view over the surrounding 240 acres of vineyards, olive groves and woodland, peeking above the leaves.

Château Capitoul is a high-end destination on the “secret” Mediterranean coast of the Languedoc region of France, with eight hotel rooms and 44 villas (some of which have their own pools), and gardens by renowned landscape designer James Basson, a four times Chelsea Flower Show Gold medal winner, using plants including lavender and rosemary.

The property is located in the natural park of the Massif de la Clape, between historic city Narbonne and picturesque fishing village Gruissan, and is part of hospitality group Domaine & Demeure that revives sleeping giant wine estates and other historic buildings, with the first project Château les Carrasses opening in 2011, with Château St Pierre de Serjac following in 2016.

The distinctive turret of Château Capitoul, Languedoc, France. Pic: Contributed/Grégoire Kueny

My trip starts by flying in to Nîmes direct from Edinburgh – just one of the many airports all within about 90 mins from Château Capitoul, also including Béziers, Perpignan, Carcassonne, Montpellier, Toulouse and Girona just across the border in Spain.

The cream gravel driveway proves a rather impressive welcome to the property, and I check in at the grand reception in a modern-fronted building that also houses the onsite winery. I head over to the neo-gothic white and terracotta Château building and up the spiral staircase to my lodgings.

I am staying in the luxury suite, which has a cream, grey and blue colour scheme, and includes a freestanding silver-coloured bathtub in the main bedroom, plus living room area complete with teal-upholstered furnishings, and views in three directions including across the tranquil vineyards.

And while the tiling of a hotel bathroom is not something that would usually strike me as anything particularly out of the ordinary, I find myself transfixed by the pristine slabs covering the floor and shower area. Each one is a distinctive artwork forged by nature, collectively resembling an undulating pale blue sea with white-flecked waves crashing on sandy shoreline so vividly I can almost hear it.

Patrick Brunet

Waterside

However, I get the chance to see the sea in real life on a trip to Gruissan, a bike ride of about 5 kilometres along a cycle path through verdant fields, over a stream, and then the final stretch along the shoreline where a red and a blue rowing boat bob quietly in the water.

Gruissan proves an appealing destination, very much authentically French rather than overly touristy, and filled with cafes and restaurants, and it is famous for its "Tour Barberousse" (Barbarossa Tower), with the streets beneath snaking round it in a design originally to prevent invasions.

After refuelling on coffee and a goat’s cheese salad (no trip to France is allowed without either), I then cycle a few minutes’ further to the Gruissan salt flats, a captivating stretch of pink-tinged water, bordered on the shoreside by picnic tables of diners tucking into oysters, and huge mounds of raw salt evident beyond the end of the path. However, you can get your hands on some of the product at an onsite shop selling salt in every conceivable form – flavoured with everything from cumin and even hibiscus – and much in between.

Château Capitoul sits in its own grounds, which include a vineyard. Pic: Patrick Brunet

I then head back to the Château, my navigation helped by its turret, in time for a visit to the spa that is housed in the castle’s basement, and I enjoy a back massage, one of the treatments on offer using products from French brand Cinq Mondes, along with a dip in the indoor pool (there is also an communal outdoor one overlooking the vineyards and lagoon with the Pyrenees in the distance) and steam room, helping ease my legs after their excursion.

Dinner is at brasserie Asado, one of the property’s two in-house restaurants, and the more casual of the two, well suited to families and groups, housed back in the main building where I checked in.

Asado means ‘roasted’ in Spanish, with the menu based on products cooked over charcoal in an open plan kitchen, and during my stay I try various items that arrive with chargrill marks, including delicious Mediterranean tuna, and an ultra-tender fillet of Aubrac beef.

Market

The ourdoor pool overlooking the vineyards and lagoon with the Pyrenees in the distance, at Chateau Capitoul. Pic: Contributed/Patrick Brunet

The following day I head to Narbonne, a short taxi ride away, and where I wander Les Halles, a food hall with dazzling, heavenly-scented displays of fresh produce, including brightly coloured macarons and oozing cheeses, all interspersed with tables packed with diners. Beats going to Greggs for lunch (only just though, Greggs is great).

Narbonne was in fact established by the Romans in 118BC, who apparently called it "the daughter of Rome outside Italy", and they further developed the Languedoc’s winemaking that was introduced by the Greeks in the 5th century BC.

I learn more about such history on a wine walk through the vineyards, including how the salinity of the soil helps define the character of the grapes. Capitoul is the flagship estate of partners Vignobles Bonfils, a family firm with three generations currently working together, and the tour ends with a tasting in the shadow of rows of barrels, including delicious earthy reds, while there is also an on-site wine shop.

That is followed by dinner at in-house gourmet restaurant Méditerranéo, which is led by chef Valère Diochet, and is located in the original Château dining room. It offers a tasting menu, starting with an intriguing and delicious flagship amuse bouche style dish that arrives in the form of an olive accompanied by artfully placed leaves for decoration.

Had I been staying for a longer stretch, I could have also tried out the tennis court and “boulodrome”, although reading by the pool might have proved more tempting.Château Capitoul was designed to “blend the facilities and style of a quality hotel, the privacy of a villa rental, the authenticity of a working wine estate and the laid-back ambience and service of a private club”.

I found, staying as a hotel guest, that it offered a magnetic combination of high-end luxury with tranquil comfort, stunning scenery, and French charm both rural and urban.

Rooms have views in three directions, including across the tranquil vineyards. Pic: Contributed

During the summer, a hotel room starts at £205 per night, and a two-bedroom house with garden from £570. Château Capitoul, Route de Gruissan, 11100, Narbonne. To make a reservation email [email protected] or call 0345 686 6506 (UK) or [phone] (FR).

Dog Friendly adventures on Orkney