For sale: a slice of the Mediterranean lifestyle

Until recently, property-hunters in southern France had to choose between two competing visions of the good life: a wine-steeped bolthole nestling in its own vineyards, or a cottage on the coast, with sea views and Mediterranean sunsets.

Now buyers in that enviable predicament can have it both ways. La Baraquette, a forthcoming development in Marseillan, 30 miles from Montpellier, will be moments from the beach – and surrounded by vines running right down to the water's edge.

It will, says The Sunday Times, offer "a chance to lap up the simple pleasures – sunshine, wine, sea – that the Languedoc does best".

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Fashioned from local stone and wood, the development is pitched as an extension of its host village, rather than a gated community bolted on the side. The central courtyard and its cafes and restaurants will be open to the public, as will the footpaths leading down towards the waterfront villas and vineyards.

The vines will be planted and managed by the Seigneurie de Peyrat, an established Languedoc winemaker, and will supply residents with two cases of wine each year. La Baraquette's restaurants – and its five-star hotel – will also make use of the local produce, including oysters cultivated on the shores of the estate.

It promises to be a laid-back kind of a place: cars will be hidden away in an underground car park and residents will get around on foot, on bikes or in the electrified 1960s Citroen jeeps developed for La Baraquette – and included in the purchase of some properties.

The location

The pretty port village of Marseillan "has an undeniable frisson of St Tropez", says The Guardian. Not the present-day "Riviera honeypot oozing bling, Eurotrash and traffic, but the serene isolated fishing village that first attracted artists and writers in the late 19th century, and then Bardot and the jet set in the 1950s."

At its heart is a long, narrow harbour, which protrudes into the 17th-century streets. The waterfront is lined by bistros and pavement cafes, in which the staff are as stereotypically chic as the clientele.

Marseillan is also the home of Noilly Prat, the original French vermouth. The factory, established by Louis Noilly and Claudius Prat in 1855, is open for tours and tastings from spring to autumn.

Prices at La Baraqueete start from €252,000 (£215,000) for apartments and €3.9m (£3.3m) for waterfront villas. Full details at la-baraquette.com