Mas des Agrunelles L’Indigène Languedoc France

60% Syrah, 25% Grenache, 15% Carignan

Mas des Agrunelles is situated north-west of Montpellier up on the Terrasses du Larzac. Unlike the typical wines of the region, Frederic and Stephanie make delicate and subtle wines with gentle extraction. Rather than focusing on varietals, each of the 12 Mas des Agrunelles cuvees showcases the terroir of individual parcels covering 25ha and a range of soil types from fractured Jurassic limestone to red marne. Biodynamic principles are followed right down to bottling on fruit days, and when possible on the descending moon.

The Syrah for L’Indigène comes from the famous ‘La Marèle’ parcel, which makes their eponymous top cuvée. After a month of semi-carbonic maceration with gentle maceration in separate tanks, the wine is transferred to a mix of concrete eggs and earthenware jars for maturation. These amphorae allow a tiny degree of oxidation, developing the complexity of its flavours.