Founded in 2004 by Robert Dougan and Karine Ahton La Pèira en Damaisèla is a wine estate and a winery located in the Terrasses du Larzac appellation of Languedoc in the South of France.
Within just a few years with the support of founder Rob Dougan, Australian composer particularly famous for the 1999 The Matrix movie soundtrack called Clubbed to Death, La Pèira established a strong place among the elite wineries in France.
In 2009, Andrew Jefford dedicated an article in the Financial Times to looking at the Terrasses du Larzac (and what he called “the astonishing wines of La Pèira”), writing that the enclave contained, “some of the greatest vineyard land in the south of France.”
The vineyards of La Pèira cover about 12 hectares (30 acres) on rocky Jurassic alluvial soils bathed in the dry and hot sun of Languedoc, while altitude of the Larzac plateau moderates the climate’s temperature and preserves the fruit freshness of the grapes.
The estate grows a variety of red and white grapes typical of the Languedoc area: Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Cinsault, Mourvèdre, Viognier, Marsanne, Clairette blanche, Roussanne, and Grenache Blanc.
Watch the winery presentation of La Pèira en Damaisèla
La Pèira en Damaisèla Wine Reviews
La Pèira produces a range of six different wines, 4 reds and 2 whites. You will find below my ratings, reviews and tasting notes for the winery’s four reds.
2017 Obriers de La Pèira en Damaisèla Terrasses du Larzac AOC, Languedoc
Winery notes: Obriers is La Pèira’s third (or entry level) wine. It is made from two traditionally disprised grape varieties of Southern France: Cinsault and Carignan. That was the case when we start bottling the Cuvee, now they’re almost highly fashionable. The two stalwart varieties were used to make vin ordinaire (ordinary wine) that was a daily drink for many in the region and in France. Our wish from the start was to do something extraordinary with the two cepages by farming well and harvesting by hand. The plots that make up this wine are from the Estate’s Belle Fiolle (Bellefeuille) and Les Points lieu-dits (see map).
Score : 91+/100 points
Overall Reviews Notes & Tasting Impressions
This Languedoc red comes in a dark red color, as expected for the style, with youthful shiny and vibrant purple hues making look appealing and pleasing.
The nose is filled with powerful juicy aromas of ripe raspberry and fresh blackberry. It’s vibrant and juicy to smell at, while delicate notes of dark chocolate, black pepper and cocoa make for a deepening feel to the aromatic profile.
On the palate, this is a stunningly vibrant and juicy red, dry in style. The wine has a rather oily body but with such smooth and velvety tannins combined with a salivating acidity. As a result, it tastes and drinks seamlessly.
The flavors of mixed fresh red berry juice come with sweetening sensations of caramel and vanilla, deep clove and green pepper, and captivating notes of black olives.
It’s a mixture of sweet and fruity savors with savory ones, dark roasted coffee beans, black forest cake with the dark chocolate combined with raspberry coulis.
Dry, with solid acidity. Yet, it feels sweet and comforting. Powerful in flavors yet delicate in its delivery.
A wine that provides an absolute pleasing experience, it is so easily drinkable, yet with many layers of harmoniously combined flavors. The mark of utterly balanced wines…
Because this is not such a highly concentrated or impressive wine, nether is it utterly refined, it scores just under the 92-point mark. Yet, in its pure drinkability and the warming, comforting yet fruity and refreshing delivering it provides, in the category of an approachable wines that you are sure to love and enjoy, it is nearing perfection…
2015 Las Flors de La Pèira en Damaisèla Terrasses du Larzac AOC, Languedoc
Winery notes: As well as the grand vin La Pèira, the estate produces a second wine, Las Flors. Made with the same care and attention to detail as La Peira, Las Flors de la Pèira is a blend of Syrah, Grenache, and Mouvedre. In recent vintages, small amounts of Cinsault and Carignan are added to the blend. Las Flors de la Pèira is a pure expression of the unique terroir of the Estate’s Belle Fiolle (Bellefeuille) lieu-dit (see map) tended to and harvested by hand.
Score : 93+/100 points
Overall Reviews Notes & Tasting Impressions
This Terrasses du Larzac comes in a dark and dense red color, with hints of oranges hues betraying some evolution in this 4-year-old wine. The nose, at first confirms the wine has evolved and matured with age. Delicate notes of truffle and leather dominate initially. Let the wine breathe in your glass before tasting. Decant a solid hour before serving to allow it to breathe and open up.
You will be granted with vibrant dark blackberry, of the fresh type, dark cherry and blackcurrant notes that then become the main feature in the aromatic profile. Complex and layered nose, with coffee and caramel, dark cocoa and loads of lifted garrigue (thyme, rosemary, and even vibrant peppermint tones).
The palate delights through outstanding flavors of candy apple. It’s dry in flavors, but sweet in sensations delivering intense notes of caramel and cherry liqueur. Tannins and dense and smooth, while the acidity shines keeping the freshness of the berry fruit flavors in check.
Soft, dense and silky tannic texture make for a very balanced wine, warming and generous through perceptible alcohol, salivating and mineral, yet savory enough thanks to dark-roasted coffee and woodfire ashes notes to remain interesting and lively, food-friendly too.
The length to the finish is simply immense…
A rather stunning wine that offers the pungency and generosity of Languedoc, combined with the complexity and depth more commonly found in aged Bordeaux wines.
Somehow the signature cold woodfire ashes from aged Bordeaux Cabernet Sauvignon are here combined with the pungency of the red berries that are characteristic of the Terrasses du Larzac.
The result is a deep and complex wine, with a surprising and pleasing composure that lasts forever on the palate with many layers of complexity.
2015 La Pèira en Damaisèla Grand Vin Terrasses du Larzac AOC, Languedoc
Winery notes: The desire to discover the site’s innate qualities through exceptional viticultural work has shaped La Pèira’s philosophy since the beginning. La Pèira is a cuvée of Syrah, Grenache, and is a pure expression of the unique terroir of the Estate’s Bois de Pauliau lieu-dit.
Score : 94+/100 points
Overall Reviews Notes & Tasting Impressions
A deeply colored wine, with a deep dark red color to the core, still with purple hues to the rim indicating this is still a young wine despite it 3-4 years of age.
The aromatic profile throws intense bursting aromas of ripe blackberry and raspberry jam. It is a little jammy and feeling very ripe, with notes of plum and prune, and loads of caramel. Yet, the red berry characters shine through and make sure it doesn’t feel too heavy overall.
A wealth of French vanilla and caramel from the oak, come with complex herbal scents of thyme and rosemary, of garrigue as the French would say, and delightful pungent dark chocolate notes.
It smells complex and opulent, ripe and generous with this dominance of vanilla, caramel and chocolate combined with fruity tones.
The palate reveals a wine with a very smooth yet dense tannic texture.
Warming oily body is coated in silky soft tannins in an ocean of a creamy oily texture, while very concentrated flavors of jammy blackberry and raspberry, some dark cherry liqueur and cooked strawberry shine through. Those are quickly followed by the Bourbon-like oakiness, loads of clovy and nutmeg spices, some black peppery lifted notes.
An abundantly rich red, oily, tannic, smooth and oily, yet with the purity of a clean red berry fruity expression, an overall dry feel, and hints of saline minerality to the finish that taste like an invitation to pair it with generously-flavored meat dishes.
A stunner of a wine, an extremely likable invitation to explore the wine of Languedoc, a convincing illustration of how wines from Terrasses du Larzac have reached the top world stage in the refinement and potential of their expression.
2015 La Pèira en Damaisèla ‘Matissat’ Terrasses du Larzac AOC, Languedoc
Matissat is a rare cuvée made from 100% Mourvèdre wine grapes grown on the Bois de Pauliau lieu-dit of La Peira estate
Score : 96/100 points
Overall Reviews Notes & Tasting Impressions
A wine with a deep and dense red dark color, looking nearly black o the core. But the most impressive aspect of it, at least before tasting it, is smelling it.
The aromatic profile burst such a captivating combination of ripe, slightly jammy blackberry and liqueur-like cherry, together with such tempting creamy chocolate notes. Somewhat smelling like a black forest cake that would generously be topped by loads of whipped creamy this wine smells like.
But this is certainly not all you can perceive to the nose here.
Opulent licorice marries star anise, dark-roasted coffee and caramel, scents of garrigue as well as coconut. An immense deep and complex wine to smell at, with notes throwing your imagination and emotions in all directions.
Yet the whole somewhat makes sense, like only wine does while mixing aromas coming from so many different universes. A little earthy, with a touch of animal character, is flooded in an ocean of fruity and notes of torrefaction. Always deep and refined. Absolutely intriguing and captivating.
The palate finishes convincing that this is a rare type of a wine.
The body and the oily texture are simply immense and coating your taste buds in a dense ball of enjoyable silky feel. This is while concentrated flavors of prune and blackberry jam literally explode on your palate, quickly followed by a wealth of herbal scents of thyme and rosemary, licorice, vanilla, caramel, blackberry jam and more. There is so much coming to your senses at once, it’s almost overwhelming, although, always somehow extremely pleasing.
Beyond the myriad of flavors and the richness, what strikes and delights, is the nearly-imperceptible, the discrete earthy component in Matissat. Almost hidden underneath the controlled power and composed opulence, lies a component many tasters will miss but one that is essential.
The wine throws refined earthy notes of iron, like it is grown on red irony soil.
Matissat certainly feels like a single vineyard wine, broadcasting proudly its outstanding and rare features of smoothness and complexity, yet not hiding its essence and the origin of its terroir a salivating dry, fresh and zingy feel as well, all for the better.
Simply an outstanding Languedoc wine playing the world-class category like it belongs to the global superstar stage. Very well crafted and trained for the international scene, yet with a genuine local accent from the South of France.
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