Les Gentillieres Terrasses du Larzac 2015
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The Land
The Languedoc's reputation for heat is earned almost everywhere except here. Terrasses du Larzac sits in the northern Languedoc, on the alluvial and colluvial terraces of the Herault river at the foot of the Larzac plateau, which rises above 800 meters. Cold air drains off that plateau after sundown, and the resulting day-to-night swing is the widest in the Languedoc, enough to hold acidity in grapes that take full Mediterranean sun all day. Rainfall runs 800 to 900 millimeters a year, well above the parched coast to the south, and wind funneled through the two river valleys keeps disease pressure down. The geology spans four eras and produces clay-limestone alluvium, limestone scree, pebbles, marl, and pockets of sandstone, shale, basalt, and the red-ochre ruffes. The appellation got its own AOC only in 2014, after years as a named zone inside the Coteaux du Languedoc. It covers 32 communes west of Montpellier and roughly 700 hectares, 73% of them farmed to organic specifications.
The Wine
Grenache, Carignan, and Syrah from old vines, spread across seven parcels on limestone pebbles between Arboras and Saint-Saturnin-de-Lucian. The domaine's 2014 ran 60% Grenache with Carignan and Syrah filling the rest; the exact 2015 split is not published. The appellation requires a minimum of twelve months of aging, and the wines are built on fine, rounded tannin rather than extraction. Red cherry and raspberry, dried herbs and crushed mint, black pepper, and a stony, iron-edged finish. At eleven years old the 2015 sits squarely in its window: primary fruit has turned savory, oak has folded in, and the mountain freshness that defines this appellation is intact. Serve it at 60°F rather than room temperature. Heat flattens the cool edge that is the entire point of Terrasses du Larzac.
The People
Laure Gasparotto is a historian, journalist, and wine critic who has written for Le Figaro, Le Point, and Le Monde and broadcast on France Inter. In 2014 she did what almost no critic does: she made the stuff herself. She gathered around twenty friends, took on five hectares, and founded Domaine Les Gentillieres, farming in conversion to organic and working, in her own description, as close to the terroir as she could manage. She ran the domaine from 2014 through 2018 before returning to writing, a short production window that makes this 2015 a bottle from the middle of it. She is also the author of L'Atlas des vins de France. A critic willing to be judged by her own standards is worth paying attention to.
Food Pairing
Lamb chops grilled over charcoal with rosemary and coarse salt, where the minty streak in the wine and the herbs on the meat are the same conversation. Ratatouille with good olive oil and a runny egg on top, the acidity keeping the vegetables from going flat. Grilled sausage with green lentils and dijon. Or a dry, salty Pelardon goat cheese, which the Grenache fruit answers directly. This is a red for the first cool evening of fall, when you want warmth without weight.
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Syrah is a dark-skinned grape of French origin, specifically from the Northern Rhône Valley, where it produces some of the world's most powerful and complex wines. Known as Shiraz in Australia, Syrah is capable of displaying a wide range of aromas and flavors. Cool climate Syrahs tend to express floral notes like violets, along with savory elements like olives, while those grown in warmer climates like Australia are more likely to show black pepper and dark fruit notes such as plum. The grape's versatility allows it to adapt to various climates and soil types, but it maintains its unique characteristics no matter where it is planted.
