La Pèira en Damaisèla, La Pèira 2008

"A hidden little gem, the 2008 Terrasses du Larzac la Peira offers a savory, complex, full-bodied, elegant style that shines in the vintage, and in fact, it might be one of the best wines from the south of France in the vintage. Giving up a terrific perfume of peppery herbs (there's that classic Languedoc resinous scrub brush character), black fruits, truffle and crushed rock, it has beautiful mid-palate concentration, sound underlying structure and an impeccably balanced, age-worthy, lengthy feel. It shows incredible freshness and purity today, but will keep easily through 2026. It's certainly not one of the most exuberant vintages here, yet it shows incredible class."

Jeb Dunnuck 95 Punkte (Juni 2016)

"From a blend close to that of its 2009 counterpart, the 2008 Coteaux du Languedoc Terrasses du Larzac La Peira bears some resemblance to a top-notch Medoc in its ripe though restrained expression of black fruits allied to sealing wax and iodine, crushed stone and carob. Somewhat somber overall for a wine from this estate and with a more palpable sense of structure and sheer density than most Languedoc reds of its vintage, this nevertheless proceeds to finish with a surprising degree of sheer juiciness and energy as well as a nearly indelible impression of berry skin and mineral matter. It won’t seduce you in the manner of its 2009 counterpart, but it certainly commands your attention – indeed, the finish practically demands your submission! – and ought to do so for the better part of a decade, if not beyond. (What a great job the team here did of getting the 2007 La Peira into bottle! Tasted alongside this 2008, it offers complex floral perfume, intense fruit, as well as animal and mineral dimensions of saliva-inducing, next-sip-craving savor – all shot through with an almost electrical sense of energy.)

Rob Dougan and his winemaker Jeremie Depierre demonstrated this April that La Peira en Damaisela – for much more about which, consult the account in my issue 183 Languedoc report – is not about to rest on its early and entirely merited laurels. In addition to exciting 2010 raw materials (on which I have appended parenthetic comments to my notes on the 2009s) and superlative 2009 and 2008 renditions of the same four cuvees I tasted from each of their first three vintages (and reported on in issue 183), they surprised me with three installments of a pure batch of Mourvedre that they had been holding back. “We thought given such hot weather in 2009, and after we had tasted right after fermentation, that our wines might be heavy,” relates Depierre. “But after the winter – when the malo-lactic was finally getting done – the elegance started to come out. And after we did the blends, we were surprised to discover so much fruit and freshness.” For 2009, the blend for Las Floras, exceptionally, included some Cinsault to help insure the preservation of precisely these virtues. The La Peira 2008s were able to benefit from September rain that jump-started the late ripening of Syrah and Mourvedre, while moderate temperatures throughout the season served for balanced acidity and alcohol, although today – in something of a reversal of these vintages’ usual roles – the 2009s at this address are showing more florality, charm, and elegance than their 2008 counterparts. If the relative personalities of 2009 and 2008 here surprised me a bit given what I witnessed at most Languedoc estates, the superb La Peira 2007s also surprised – again, vis-a-vis the Languedocian norm – by how well the sense of energy, delineation, and levity that they had conveyed in barrel was captured in bottle. Faced with performances consistent with my stellar issue 183 expectations, I have merely appended very brief comments on these magnificent bottled 2007s to my reviews of the corresponding 2008s, rather than taking up space by recording a completely new tasting note. The rare white from La Peira is surprising even its creators with its excellence and stamina, and new plantings have recently gone in of Roussanne as well as some Marsanne. If it were not already abundantly clear, this is now one of the three or four most exciting not to mention meticulously-run properties in the Languedoc, and as such is broadcasting the message that this region’s soils and old vines harbor abundant latent grandeur whose awakening awaits only the right combination of inspiration, labor, and luck. I just hope aspiring vintners and winery owners – not to mention wine lovers – the world over are listening!"

David Schildknecht 94 Punkte (August 2011)

Quelle: www.robertparker.com