Enthroned at The Summit of Larzac: Domaine de Montcalmès, a Languedoc Stand-out, Drinks Well in Its Youth and Shows No Weakness with Age. + Four Top Terrasses du Larzac Producers. 6-Bottle Package, All Producers Sampler $268 + Recent Arrival Larzac’s Rising Star: Le Clos du Serres 6-Bottle Sampler Package For $138

Join us for Saturday Sips: A Taste of Terrasses du Larzac

Come as you are; come any time that’s convenient for you during our business hours to sample selection from this week’s selections. Our staff will be on hand to discuss nuances of the wines, the terroirs reflected, and the producers.

Elie

If you’re an aspiring domaine owner working with a tight budget, and have an eye to producing world-class French wine, you could do worse than Terrasses du Larzac, where an acre of vineyard land might set you back the equivalent of $5,000. Compare that to Burgundy’s $100,000-an-acre mind-blowing average. Not only that, but only 35% of the available land is currently under vine.

It’s no wonder that this relatively new (2014) appellation is seducing many winemakers who are equally green behind the ears; they are beginning careers with an eye (and palate) toward quality—still a rather novel concept in Languedoc, long the home for a sea of cheap wine available for under ten dollars a bottle.  AOP rules in TdL are relatively tight in comparison to the Languedoc as a VdF: in Larzac, there are five permitted grapes—Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault and Carignan; the wines must be blends and include at least two from Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre. Furthermore, cellar-aging must last at least one year.

Among the new class of Larzac producers, we number the following as among our favorites. They are visionaries with both heritage and discipline, finding in the wonderfully diverse terroirs of the region an opportunity to rival, and frequently outgun, wines from the same grapes made way up north in the Rhône.

Terrasses du Larzac: A Languedoc Stand-Out, Coming into Its Own

The history of Languedoc’s vineyards dates back to the 5th century BCE when the Greeks introduced vines to the area. As such, the Terrasses du Larzac AOP is a bit anomalous simply because it only received official recognition in 2014. Extending across 32 communes among the foothills of Larzac, with its northern boundary naturally formed by the Causse du Larzac, part of TdL’s appellation upgrade was a phasing-out of the predominantly Carignan-based wines of the past in favor of ‘cépages améliorateurs’ (improver varieties) like Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre—grapes more usually associated with Rhône. Carignan is now limited to only 30% of any Terraces du Larzac wine.

But the terroir is perfectly suited to the Big Three; Larzac is geologically varied and offers soils that range from stony clay and sand, iron-rich red soils, and heavier clay soils with high limestone content. Vineyards situated on the banks of the Hérault river are planted on pebble-strewn alluvial terraces and stonier soils with limestone bedrock. The average altitude of the local vineyards is around 400 feet, but rise to nearly 1300 feet in the northerly commune of Saint Privat. The Mediterranean climate provides distinctly seasonal rainfall throughout spring and fall, and thanks to the nearby mountains of the southern Massif Central, the appellation’s vineyards enjoy the benefits of cooler nights after hot days, helping to provide balance between sugar and acid in the grapes.

 PACKAGE ONE

This package offering is comprised of six wines featured and numbered below: Two wines from Montcalmès, one white Vin de France 2020 and one red 2019, and one of each of Saint-Sylvestre 2015, Mas Jullien ‘Lous Rougeos’ 2017, Cal Demura ‘Les Combariolles’ 2017 and Le Clos du Serres ‘Le Palas’ 2018 for a total of six bottles at $268.

Domaine de Montcalmès
The Summit of Larzac

The quiet persistence of Frédéric Pourtalié has, since his first vintage in 1999, gradually elevated Domaine de Montcalmès to a quality level to match his mentor Grange de Pères, although in terms of cult wine status, it still flies a bit under the radar. Pourtalié trained at Pères before taking over family vineyards at the edge of the Massif Central, where cool night air descends off the Cévennes Mountains.

Named for a hamlet that once overlooked the Hérault valley, Pourtalié’s winemaking cousin Vincent Guizard (now of Domaine Saint-Sylvestre) joined in 2003 in a quest to put the Hérault estate on the world’s wine map. Today, Pourtalié farms 54 acres spread between the communes of Puéchabon, Aniane, St. Jean de Fos and St. Saturnin de Lucian, each with its own unique microclimate and soil geology. Montcalmès means ‘limestone mountain’ in Occitan, and Pourtalié draws variously from the lacustrine limestones of Puéchabon, the rolled pebbles of Aniane, the scree of Saint-Saturnin and the clays of Saint-Jean-de-Fos.

Frédéric Pourtalié, Domaine de Montcalmès
photo: Atelier Soubiran

The domain is hundreds of miles from either Burgundy or Southern Rhône, but the influence of both manages to trickle down to Pourtalié’s operation. His Mourvèdre grows on pudding-stones nearly identical to Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s galets roulés and his red wines are aged for 24 months in old Romanée-Conti barrels, giving them a potential longevity of a decade or more.

Frédéric Pourtalié proudly shares that for the past decade, he has been supplying top-end wines to local Michelin starred restaurants— the Pourcel, the Auberge du Vieux Puits in Fontjoncouse, Michel Bras in Aveyron—but also the Troisgros, Pierre Gagnaire, the Grillon in Paris. “Between restaurants and a network of wine merchants, it is sometimes hard to keep up,” says Pourtalié.

“We are slowly expanding; I recently planted six acres of Syrah on a clearing of scrubland on the hillsides, but I’ve also made time to vinify a 100% Viognier in Vin de France, this time sold only in the cellar. A special vintage just for visitors.”

Vintage 2020

The ‘nutshell’ summation of the 2020 vintage in Languedoc is ‘low quantity, high quality.’

For the most part, the appellation had ample reserves of water from flooding the previous autumn and winter. The spring was quite cool, and there was quite a bit of rainfall in late April early May. Summer heated up, but not to the over-the-top extremes of 2019; it was dry, but the August nights were cool—ideal were quite warm but thankfully without the extremes of 2019. High summer did of course warm up and was dry as usual, but the August nights were cool with an ideal condition for the ripening and flavor development.

2020 Domaine de Montcalmès, Terrasses du Larzac ($57)
60% Syrah, 20% Mourvèdre, 20% Grenache; the grapes were destemmed and crushed and allowed to ferment separately on indigenous yeast during a maceration of 30 days. The varieties underwent regular punching down, following which barrel-aging took place over 24 months; the three varieties were blended two months before bottling.

The wine shows clean blackberry and cassis notes while the palate is silky with spice and fine-grained leather with a touch of licorice on the finish.

2020 Domaine de Montcalmès, Languedoc Blanc ($57)
50% Marsanne, 50% Roussanne—the classic Hermitage blend in which the Marsanne provides body and the delicate flavors of peach, pear and spice, while Roussanne brings elegance, aroma, crisp acidity for aging and nut along with mineral notes. The vines, now over twenty years old, are located in Puéchabon on a clay-limestone hillside. After harvesting by hand, the two varieties were pressed and vinified together via direct pressing, and cold settled. Vinification occurred on indigenous yeasts in barrels and demi-muids and the wine was aged in used oak barrels for 24 months. The different barrels were blended 4 to 6 months before bottling.

ONE BOTTLE 
 •1•  2020 Domaine de Montcalmès, VdF Languedoc-Terrasses du Larzac Blanc ($47)
40% Petit Manseng, 10% Gros Manseng, 10% Petit Courbu, 10% Gros Courbu, 15% Chenin, 15% Chardonnay; a blend so unusual it wears the generic VdF label, but don’t let that fool you; the wine is a gem, showing taut minerality and an herbal edge suggestive of the wild thyme and fennel that grow near the vines. In the mouth, it is reminiscent of honey, almonds, wildflowers and gentle brine.

Vintage 2019

2019 was (as is happening more and more frequently) a season of intense drought, beginning with a cold, dry spring which slowed leaf development in the vines. High summer temperatures arrived quickly and further slowed growth during peaks. Relief came in the weeks before harvest with a mercury drop, especially at night, and a few rain-filled days. Harvest 2019 came later than in 2018 and the wines are more concentrated, with nicely defined tannins behind moderate to low acidity.

 ONE BOTTLE
•2• 2019 Domaine de Montcalmès, Terrasses du Larzac ($57)
60% Syrah, 20% Mourvèdre, 20% Grenache. The two sites that contribute to this are distinct; the first is north-facing and on limestone scree, the source of the Syrah and Grenache, while the second is south-facing and on galet roulés as you might find in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. This warmer site is where he sources the heat-loving Mourvèdre. The wine aged in old casks from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti for two years before release and reamins fresh on the nose with ripe plum and blackberry, bricking out with leather, balsamic, undergrowth, chocolate and dried fruit.

Vintage 2018

If any vintage in a given appellation can be labeled ‘typical,’ 2018 in Languedoc was that. After a dry autumn, the winter and spring that followed were particularly wet, bringing record precipitation levels. This was ideal for rebuilding water tables drained during the dry 2017 growing season. The rain was not yet done, and heavy downpours in May and June threatened mildew, and the most sensitive vineyards face yield cuts. Wine growers who acted rapidly managed to have yields in the normal range. The rest of the summer was hot and dry, with expected storms in mid-August. The grapes were harvested during an Indian summer that allowed them to reach an exceptional level of ripeness.

2018 Domaine de Montcalmès, Terrasses du Larzac ($57)
60% Syrah, 20% Mourvèdre and 20% Grenache, The wine presents a toasty nose of campfire charcoal with hints of vanilla and an intensity of blackberry jam. The palate shores up the bouquet adding scrubland garrigue and on the finish, mineral, graphite and bracing acidity to offset the tannins.

Vintage 2016

2016 was a notably dry year, but also a year that demonstrated how cleverly a grape vine can adjust, throwing its resources into long-term survival and paying less attention to the health of its annual progeny of grapes. As a result, the fruit was small and the juices concentrated.

The red wine grapes reached optimal ripeness in late September and early October and compared to the white grapes, were witness to the stress of one month’s additional drought. Red volumes were down 40%, with Syrah in particular displaying small berries. Mourvèdre and Carignan came in last, having suffered less than the Syrah and Grenache; but then these varieties resist semi-arid conditions better. Carignan displayed a notable improvement in quality versus earlier years (perhaps due to its Spanish origins)—a masochistic variety if ever there was one.

2016 Domaine de Montcalmès, Terrasses du Larzac ($54)
The Syrah and Grenache are planted on a limestone plateau facing north; the Mourvèdre on south facing slopes filled with rolled pebbles similar to Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The wine has come into its own, showing rich black cherries with cranberry acidity behind the bite of Mediterranean herbs and tannins that have integrated well, becoming settled and harmonious.

Vintage 2015

A delightful vintage for Languedoc; one that wine writer Jancis Robinson calls ‘une année vinabilis.’  Water tables were replenished over the previous year’s winter, and spring was warm and dry, with no weather issues during flowering. Conditions that favor healthy and clean fruit continued into summer, with no hail or rainstorms of any serious note. Hydric stress was an issue for younger vines with shallower roots, notably some Syrah planted in 2006. The older Grenache and Syrah shrugged it off as deeper roots found water. Harvesting began in early September and finished a week earlier than ever before. Grenache wound up as the star of the year; ripe, healthy and very juicy. The Syrah yielded smaller but very concentrated and fruity berries. The Mourvèdre and Carignan were well-balanced between acid and sugar.

2015 Domaine de Montcalmès, Terrasses du Larzac ($48)
60% Syrah, 20% Mourvèdre, 20% Grenache; an enticing nose displaying ripe black cherry, anise and a fleeting whiff of dried strawberry. A Grenache with a delicacy that is reminiscent of Château Rayas; a nice balance between fruit and the grip of acidity and silken tannins. 

Vintage 2014

As folks in Languedoc recall too well, 2014 was the vintage of cataclysmic hailstorms which seriously compromised yields. Spells of unseasonably hot spring weather tested vines while the summer brought sharp variations in temperature, with cool periods followed by periods of extreme heat. Only the most careful and persistent vintners produced notable wines, but the best of these show balance, concentration and complexity at relatively low alcohol levels.

2014 Domaine de Montcalmès, Terrasses du Larzac ($50)
60% Syrah, 20% Mourvèdre, 20% Grenache; the nose is full of leathery cherry and perfumed with dried violet while the fruit is settling into garrigue spice with a long and lingering finish washed in velvety tannins.

2014 Domaine de Montcalmès, Terrasses du Larzac ($249) Jeroboam (3 Liter)
Some Larzac from the 2014 vintage may already have peaked, but the beauty of a large bottle format—in this case a three-liter Jeroboam—is the slower, more exacting aging process. As such, this mega offering has traversed the years with grace. Showing mature tertiary notes of earth while maintaining a dark fruit profile behind spicy garrigue and game with mellowed tannins, it is also a collector wine: 2014 was the first year that Terrasses du Larzac was officially recognized as an appellation.

Vintage 2013

Compared with the rest of France, the Languedoc fared well in 2013, escaping most of the major climatic hazards that beset other regions. Key climatic factors were a wet spring—the wettest in thirty years—but that meant that there was no danger of water stress later in the season. Summer arrived late, leading to a late harvest—sometimes grapes catch up, but this year they did not. Fortunately, September was bright and sunny and the rain that did fall did not harm the grapes. They ripened well, with supple tannins and ample freshness.

2013 Domaine de Montcalmès, Terrasses du Larzac ($49)
60% Syrah, 20% Mourvèdre, 20% Grenache; a typically elegant wine in the process of aging beautifully, showing broad and expansive dried berries and kirsch accented by hints of garrigue and Asian spice. The finish is very long, with ripe, silky, fine-grained tannins.

2013 Domaine de Montcalmès, Terrasses du Larzac ($130) Magnum (1.5 Liter)
A large format version of the above.

Domaine Saint Sylvestre
Terrasses du Larzac, Languedoc

It’s easy to conclude that Terrasses du Larzac has one of the highest concentrations of ambitious young producers in the south of France. This is partially due to the unique climate conditions but also the vast range of soil types confined to a relatively small area. Throughout the communes that host Larzac’s vineyards, you’ll encounter schist, sand, horizontal layers of red ruffe, clay/limestone and galets roulés in the course of a few miles.

“Among the more interesting of these types is the ruffe,” says Vincent Guizard of Domaine Saint-Sylvestre, referring to the fine-grained, brilliant-red sandstone soil. “It’s rarely found outside Languedoc. It is extremely iron-rich soil that is a beautiful brick color and produces intense, fruity and full-bodied Syrah, Grenache, Carignan, Mourvèdre and Cinsault.”

Vincent and Sophie Guizard, Domaine Saint Sylvestre

Guizard knows his terroir as well as his wife Sophie knows the wine business; together, they created Domaine Saint-Sylvestre in 2010 with 17 acres he owned as part of Domaine de Montcalmès, the winery he worked alongside his cousin, Frédéric Pourtalié. Domaine Saint-Sylvestre released its first vintage release in 2011.

Vincent and Sophie employ a sustainable approach to viticulture, a method known as ‘lutte raisonnée’ (the reasoned struggle) and use no synthetic fertilizers or herbicides in the vineyards.

 ONE BOTTLE
•3•  2015 Domaine Saint Sylvestre, Terrasses du Larzac ($41)
70% Syrah, 20% Grenache, 10% Mourvèdre. A beautifully-aged Larzac blend showing dried cranberry, sweet leather, crushed stone, garrigue and woodsmoke. Total production, 1375 cases.

Mas Jullien
Terrasses du Larzac, Languedoc

Olivier Jullien bore witness to the unwieldy beast that was Languedoc wine during the 1970s. Partly responsible for the European ‘wine lake’ created by over-cropped vineyards producing bulk wine for mass consumption and, if unsold, distilled as industrial alcohol. As a boy growing up in Jonquières, north of Montpellier, he saw many talented contemporaries either opt out of winemaking as a career or move to other appellations. He became the ironic pioneer who stayed put: “I saw it as a moral mandate to prove the worth of my land,” he says.

In 1985, Olivier converted several outbuildings on his family’s farm into wine cellars, intent on producing thoughtful and complex wines under the label ‘Mas Jullien.’ His father was a vigneron who grew grapes and sold them to the local co-op, but these were not the quality that Olivier was after, so he purchased vineyards of his own.

Olivier Jullien, Mas Jullien

Today, he controls 37 acres scattered around Jonquières, most of them growing vines grow on the rocky terraces of the Larzac plateau at the foot of Mont Baudille. Some of these vines are planted near 3000 feet, the highest altitudes in the region. This acreage is actually a reduction from Jullien’s original holding—as he experiments, he hones. His brief foray into natural wines is an example: “I think it’s a good thing in general because it has led people to reduce their sulfur dioxide. But sans souffre (zero sulfur) doesn’t work. You must add some after malolactic and before bottling. Without any sulfur you get the same wine every year, from every terroir.”

He has been working organically and biodynamically for a long time, but he doesn’t bother with certification. Like son, like father: As a side note, so successful was Olivier with his ‘moral mandate’ that his father wound up leaving the co-op in the 1990s and making his own wine under the well-respected label Mas Cal Demoura, today owned by Isabelle and Vincent Goumard.

Vintage 2017

2017 was a rough wine year across France; due to frost and drought, it became a double-record year, for both the earliest harvest and the smallest harvest since 1945.

Languedoc did not see it coming: Winter was encouraging, with January to March witnessing twice the rainfall of 2016. Despite a cold January, there were no frosts or hail of any note, and February followed suit. March temperatures were above average, and with the water-replenished soil, vines grew explosively. Everyone anticipated a recovery in yields, notably among the younger, shallower-rooted vines after the drought-induced drops in 2016.

Disaster struck in late April with a Siberian mass of cold air that made temperatures plunge, causing winemakers to light smudge pots across the region. Crop losses were huge, and further exacerbated by the subsequent rake-hell turn in the weather, which became scorching hot and rain-free until near harvest. It was to be yet another year of low yields (40% less than normal) and a harvest a record two weeks earlier than expected.

And then, a funny thing happened in the cellars: The evolving wine turned out to be similar to 2003 but characterized by more maturity and higher acidities. The wine, lacking in quantity, wound up more than making up for it in quality.

2017 Mas Jullien ‘Autour de Jonquières’, Terrasses-du-Larzac ($53)
40% old-vines Mourvèdre planted in poor limestone soils, with 40% Carignan and 20% Syrah, also from very old, minuscule-yielding vines. The wine is aged for two years in a combination of demi-muids and large foudres and exhibits dark raspberry, blackberry, date, pink peppercorn and basil notes that still shine through an earthy core with nicely integrated tannins.

ONE BOTTLE 
 •4•  2017 Mas Jullien ‘Lous Rougeos’, Terrasses-du-Larzac ($53)
‘Lous Rougeos’ is Occitan for ‘Les Rougeots,’ and ironically, rougeots is a grape disease characterized by arrested growth of shoot tips and red discoloration of leaves. The wine originates in Olivier’s highest vineyard (around 1450 feet); a west-facing plot situated above the village of Saint Privat. Composed of 50% old-vine Carignan and 50% Syrah, it is fermented and aged 12 months in fine-grained oak foudres. The wine is harmonious and well balanced, with silky forward fruit and black pepper, blackberry and licorice.

Mas Cal Demoura
Terrasses du Larzac, Languedoc

In Occitan—the lenga d’òc of Southern France—Cal Demoura means ‘one must remain,’ and Jean-Pierre Jullien is living proof.

Olivier’s father Jean-Pierre came from a long line of Languedoc vignerons who made a living filling orders from the Languedoc wine industry, good and bad, staying afloat by selling grapes to the local co-operative. But his son’s stubborn refusal to watch Languedoc’s reputation drop any further, and convinced that the terroir of the region was made of sterner stuff, Olivier founded Mas Jullien and proved his point. Suitably impressed, Jean-Pierre sold off a portion of his vineyards and retained only the best twelve acres and began to make wines on the scale of Olivier’s to become part of the qualitative revolution in the Languedoc.

In 2004, Jean-Pierre retired, selling the estate to its current owners, Isabelle and Vincent Goumard.

Isabelle and Vincent Goumard, Mas Cal Demoura

Having spent a year working alongside Jean-Pierre in the fields and cellar, these two young, Dijon-trained enologists became convinced of the terroir’s potential long before taking control. The soil is dry and stony with deep but porous topsoil and the Mas Cal Demoura parcels are spread over 27 diverse acres that benefit from the cooling winds that come both from the Mediterranean and from the mountains to the north of Monpeyroux. This results in a long growing season that preserves essential acidity and yields juice of high complexity.

ONE BOTTLE 
 •5•  2017 Mas Cal Demoura ‘Les Combariolles’, Terrasses du Larzac ($51)
Les Combariolles is a lieu-dit located halfway between Jonquières and Monpeyroux; the Goumards believe it produces wine with less rusticity and more charm than surrounding vineyards. Equal parts Syrah, Mourvèdre and Grenache, the wine sees longer cuvaison and an eighteen month élevage in 600 and 500 liter demi-muids and in an oval, 2400 liter foudre. The wine is nicely concentrated, almost liqueur-like with pure cherry notes with a lovely spicy, peppery edge.

2017 Mas Cal Demoura ‘Terre de Jonquières’, Terrasses du Larzac ($36)
Previously labeled ‘L’infidèle’, this wine is the signature cuvée of the domain, a blend of all the regional grapes—Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault and Carignan. It is treated to a prolonged maceration that may last up to six weeks; aging takes place in older demi-muids and each grape variety undergoes the primary stages of the élevage separately. The wine brims with dried fruit and a wild savory character behind incisive minerality, offering notes of cassis, freshly-turned earth and complex aromas of licorice and tobacco.

RECENT ARRIVAL

 PACKAGE TWO 

This package offering is comprised of six wines, two of each wine featured and numbered below.

Le Clos du Serres
Terrasses du Larzac, Languedoc

Says Beatrice Fillon, “We chose this new occupation to rebuild our lives, to abandon a lifestyle where speed was of the essence and which seemed to us to be more and more unreal.”

She is referring to the decision she made with her husband Sébastien to purchase the 40-acre domain Clos du Serres. It was a life-changing move for the couple. Born in St Etienne, Sébastien grew up in a rural, agricultural environment and was familiar with working the land, but it was Beatrice, who hails from Montpellier, who chose the area: “We wanted to move south to the only region where there is still land to clear.”

Sébastien adds, “We were won over by the quality of life, surrounded by wild, unspoilt nature, set among olive groves, vines and the wild garrigue, close to some great natural sites—Lake Salagou, Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, the Hérault gorges—but not far from Montpellier or the sea at the foot of the Larzac plateau.”

The Fillons, Le Clos du Serres

The domain is organically certified and the Fillon’s philosophy is built around the idea that a wine’s quality has its roots in the vine, but terroir gives nothing without being worked. To this effect, each of their parcels are cultivated with individual attention: “In winter, we leave the grass between the rows of vines to avoid erosion during the heavy autumn rain and enhance the soil’s life,” says Sébastien. “We start ploughing with the first warm days getting rid of the grass naturally thus ensuring it doesn’t challenge the vine’s access to water. During the winter we treat with organic material; grape-based compost and manure from animals bred on the Larzac plateau.”

Work in the cellar is equally meticulous, according to Fillon: “We use ‘tronconique’ (conical) concrete vats and other small ones made of glass fiber with floating ‘hats.’ Thanks to the shape of the concrete vats, the ‘marc’ hat sinks into the juices, resulting in soft and natural extraction, so that fermentation based on the grapes’ natural yeast is very steady. The glass fiber vats mean we can work with very small volumes, maximizing our ability to vinify parcel by parcel. Proof is that our winery boasts 17 vats for 15 land parcels.”

Iron-rich, red Ruffe soil in Le Clos du Serres

Vintage 2022

Despite spring frosts and summer hail, clear risks during any growing season in the Languedoc, 2022 wound up being spectacular—the most acclaimed vintage in the region since 2011.

Extreme weather patterns have become commonplace in the Languedoc in recent years. After the June hailstorm, the temperature heated up while sunshine and wind reduced the risk of disease. Some grape varieties made such rapid progress that for the first time in history, Languedoc winegrowers began picking grapes in July. Most harvested between August 11 and October 19, with the early-ripening whites coming in ahead of schedule. It rained in mid-August and at the beginning of September, which polished the tannins and the polyphenols. The weather from then on was idyllic and the reds reached peak ripeness with no concerns at all.

Marie Corbel, head of the Interprofessional Council of Languedoc’s technical department, called the vintage ‘bright, vibrant and exhilarating.’ “The reason for this is that the levels of ripeness promoted quick, easy extractions for the reds, culminating in an explosion of fruits and silky tannins on the palate. Aromatics dominate in the whites, with great density. The rosés follow the same tendency, reaching unusually high levels of expressiveness,” she said.

 TWO BOTTLES
•1•  2022 Clos du Serres ‘Saint Jean’, Terrasses du Larzac ($24)
Equal parts Cinsault, Grenache, Syrah, Carignan and Mourvèdre from various plots at elevations of around 1000 feet and aged for eight months in concrete vats. There is, of course, no oak influence—only raspberry and cranberry with spicy notes that pick up orange peel and clove on the long, luscious finish. 835 cases produced.

 TWO BOTTLES
•2•  2022 Clos du Serres ‘Serres’, 2022 Languedoc ($19)
Overall, Sébastien was delighted with the 2022 vintage. He says, “The weather was perfect up to 15th June and then the heat arrived, which was very worrying. However, rain between 15th and 20th August saved them. The Syrah was ripe earlier and benefitted less from the rain, but everything else ripened well and the other reds were picked about a month after the Syrah.”

60% Grenache in addition to equal parts Cinsault and Carignan, the wine shows red fruit jelly and garrigue, especially sage. Total production is 833 cases.

TWO BOTTLES 
 •3•  2020 Clos du Serres ‘Les Maros’, Terrasses du Larzac ($26)
Soil type is the chief difference in Clos du Serres’ fifteen identified parcels of vines; each has an individual make-up that includes schist, sandstone, pebble, shingle and red ruffes. ‘Les Maros is the domain’s coolest vineyard and is planted to Cinsault, Carignan and Mourvèdre with the former making up 60% of the blend of this vintage. Each variety is vinified separately and then aged for 12 months in concrete tanks which enables the fresh and complex fruit character to shine through. 500 cases produced.

ONE BOTTLE 
 •6•  2018 Le Clos du Serres ‘Le Palas’, Terrasses du Larzac ($34)
From a west-facing lieu-dit adjacent to the village of Saint-Jean de la Blaquière, this organically-certified blend of 38% Syrah, 32% Carignan, 30% Grenache is aged in concrete and shows blackberry and plum preserves with citrus notes accompanying licorice, black pepper and graphite. Total production, 250 cases.

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Posted on 2025.03.14 in France, Wine-Aid Packages, Languedoc-Roussillon