2022 Mas d'Amile - Les Clos Terrasses du Larzac (750ml)

Mas d'Amile began in 2007, when Amélie d'Hurlaborde and her brother Sébastien inherited a small parcel of old Carignan vines from their grandfather in Montpeyroux, in the Terrasses du Larzac appellation of the Languedoc. Their grandfather had nicknamed her Amile, the masculine version of her name, and it was in his garage that Amélie made her very first vintage from that inherited plot. She has since built the domaine parcel by parcel, buying land from retiring local growers, and now farms roughly fourteen small parcels largely by hand.

Le Clos comes from a single walled vineyard of less than a hectare, planted with Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Syrah on twenty-year-old vines in the plain between Mont Baudille and the Mediterranean, just outside Montpeyroux. The grapes are hand-picked in small crates over several passes, since each variety ripens at its own pace: the early-maturing Syrah is harvested and raised separately, while the Grenache and Mourvèdre are picked together and vinified as one lot. After blending, the wine spends about eighteen months in wood barrels, developing depth and structure.

The 2022 shows the intense character typical of Montpeyroux, with notes of licorice and garrigue spice woven through dark fruit. There's real depth to the fruit alongside a lifted freshness, giving the wine both weight and energy, and making it a natural match for robust meat dishes. Drink it now, or hold it eight to ten years to let it fully unfold; either way, it pairs beautifully with grilled leg of lamb, a hearty game stew, or aged hard cheese.