Andrew Jefford & Wine Scholar Guild visits La Pèira (Terrasses du Larzac)

We were delight to have Andrew Jefford and students Wine Scholar Guild for a very special visit to La Peira.

Andrew Jefford & Wine Scholar Guild visits La Pèira (Terrasses du Larzac)

 

English Text : My name’s Andrew Jefford, and we’ve come to La Peira today with a group from the Wine Scholar Guild. And we’ve got students from the USA, from Hong Kong, from China, from the Philippines, from Australia, from Denmark, so a nice international group. We’ve come here today to discover the wines of La Peira. 

This is a very special place in Terrasses du Larzac, and Terrasses du Larzac, in my opinion, is already a very special part of France, a very special appellation in the Languedoc. Fantastic diversity of terroir here. 

Beautifully draining bench lands

I could talk for a long while about that, but the point is La Peira is in really, for me, one of the best bits of Terrasses du Larzac, the beautifully draining bench lands, right in the middle of the appellation, and you can make wines of wonderful density, wonderful layers to them, a wonderful aromatic concentration and aromatic finesse as well. And we’ve seen all of that on display today in the wines we’ve tasted. It’s always a treat to come here and taste right through the range. 

Right from Les Obriers, a wonderful kind of opening to the whole range. Lovely, voluptuous fruit there to enjoy. Las Flors, suddenly you go to a greater level of concentration, a greater level of complexity and depth, and intrigue.

La Pèira 

Then you go to La Peira, the red La Peira, which is always a great treat, a wonderfully luxurious wine. I once described it as a sort of liqueur of the garrigue. And that’s always what I hope to find in La Peira, and I usually do. 

And then Matissat, today we’ve had a treat to taste the 2007, a much older vintage. Personally, I would never have guessed if I’d been given it blind that it was as old as 2007, because it still has wonderful density, and power, and concentration. That’s a pure Mourvedre wine. Always something really to look out for, there aren’t many wines like that in the Languedoc. 

There are a few other references elsewhere in the south of France, but not really in the Languedoc, so always a great treat to try that. 

La Pèira Whites

And finally, there are now two wonderful whites to try. 

There’s Deusyls, which is, as it were, the second tier of the white. I mean, I say it’s the second tier of the white because it sells at a lower price, but for me the two white wines are almost at a par. They’re both wonderfully intricate. The difference between them is the difference of varieties. So, for me Deusyls, perhaps, is the most typical Languedoc wine, in that we have more of the southern varieties in there, lovely glycerate wine, perfumed wine again, but more sort of anise level of perfumes, whereas compare that with La Peira Blanc, that’s made from Viognier and Roussanne. Again, a very perfumed wine, but the perfumes there are more exotic, if I can use that word. Honeyed, rich, but two wonderful white wines to look at and, again, a super treat to try those. So on a very difficult day where it has rained and we’ve had all sorts of problems getting here, we’ve finally got here, we’ve had a magnificent tasting, so we’re all going home very happy.