Domaine des Lampyres - "Anima Rouge" (Espira de L'Agly Roussillon) 2019 750ml (14.2% ABV)
Dauré—F.X. is his nickname—he’ll tell you he is destined to become a vigneron. He’s the 4th generation of Dauré to grow grapes in Espira de L’Agly, Daure's many earliest memories take place on a tractor with his father. From a young age, Dauré worked the vineyards with his family.
In 2008, Dauré began working with different vignerons in the Roussillon. Intrigued by organic farming and natural winemaking, he joined Tom Lubbe at Matassa in 2015. That same year, Dauré also took control of his family’s domaine and immediately began converting to organic farming. For five years, he was Lubbe’s right hand in the vines and cellar at Matassa, while also farming 16 hectares of his own. During that time of having two full-time projects, often Dauré was in his vineyards hours before sunrise, using a headlamp to see. Neighbors joked he looked like a lampyre, or firefly: Domaine des Lampyres was born. 2016 was Lampyres’ inaugural vintage, with just 600 bottles made in Dauré’s garage. In 2018, Dauré converted a small barn into a cellar and decreased the amount of family fruit sold to the co-op. 2019 was F.X.’s last vintage at Matassa, and despite the year’s brutal summer heat wave that destroyed half the region’s crop, Dauré still managed to produce remarkable wines.
The Roussillon village of Espira de L’Agly is located at the very eastern end of the Agly Valley, just 20km from the Mediterranean and 3km northwest of Rivesaltes. Along with Banyuls and Maury, Rivesaltes was one of the most famous villages for production of Vin Doux Naturel in the region.
Lots of freshly cracked black pepper, bright acidity, velvety tannins, a little wild but a lot of fun, medium to full bodied, lingering dry finish. Decant for an hour and pair with BBQ ribs, NY strip steak, or grilled spicy Italian sausage.
region: Roussillon
varietal: 50% Syrah (21 year old vines) 50% Carignan (4 years old)
style: medium-full bodied red
farming & cellar:
-Grown at 35m elevation, red clay limestone for the Syrah and schist for the Carignan
-organic farming, hand harvested
-two varietals were harvested on the same day and then underwent 10 day whole cluster co-fermentation in large steel tank. ambient yeast fermentation
-matured 8 months in steel (no oak at all), bottled unfined and unfiltered with the barest addition of SO2 just at bottling (10ppm)
