Domaine Lafage Narassa Côtes Catalanes 2022
The nose is dominated by lots of pure blackberry, crushed herbs, earth and peppery characteristics. The mouth is full bodied, very rich with soft and fine tannins. The finish is fresh with a surprising elegance.
This wine hails from the Agly Valley in Roussillon, on black slate soil with an average vine age of 60 years giving structure and minerality.
To quote Jean Marc Lafage "In 2014, at the end of the harvest we realized we had forgotten a small plot of Grenache Noir near Maury. Despite the high degree of the grapes (17%) we decided to harvest and to try to make a ‘late’ red dry wine: the juice showed great concentration and an amazing quality. Fermentation stopped at 10g sugar/L because of the high alcohol. We decided to blend the juice with a selection of Syrah at 12.5% harvested on a fresh terroir from an altitude vineyard. 10% of the blending was raised in old sweet Maury barrels. The result is Narassa, an elegant wine in a “Appassimento” style. We harvest these grapes very late by hand in small baskets, they are almost overripe to obtain a very smooth texture and a sweet final taste. Our idea is clearly to see how far we can go in a Appassimento style wine. After a strict selection of the best grapes we then use a cold soaking fermentation, to obtain more colour and fruit. 20% of the wine is aged in old sweet wine barrels."
| Vintage | 2022 |
| Alcoholic strength | 15% |
| Awards | 91 pts, James Suckling, 2024; 90 pts, Decanter, 2024 |
| Country | France |
| Region | Roussillon |
| Subregion | Côtes Catalanes |
| Grapes | Grenache Noir 80%, Syrah 20% |
| Residual sugar (g/l) | 7 |
| Body | C |
| Contains sulphites | Yes |
| Vegetarian | Yes |
| Vegan | Yes |
| Milk | No |
| Eggs | No |
| Organic | No |
| Biodynamic | No |
| Closure | Diam |
Domaine Lafage, situated between Perpignan and the Spanish border in Côtes Catalanes, Roussillon, has been run by Jean-Marc and Eliane Lafage since 2001. They travelled spending many a season harvesting grapes and making wine in South America, the United States (California), South Africa and Germany before settling back in the Roussillon. The estate, with 7 generations and its two centuries of winemaking history dating back to 1798 prides itself on producing fine and elegant wines from the mosaic of vineyards in this dry, windy and rugged landscape. For over a decade, Roussillon has been grappling with the full force of climate change and the Domaine has transformed its viticultural practices in recent years. Their emphasis on sustainability and climate resistance in the form of regenerative agriculture including water monitoring together with earlier harvesting to gain freshness is laying the ground to face any challenges that the future may bring.
