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Domaine Duseigneur, “Minha Terra” Syrah

Rhône Valley, France 2018 (750mL)
$26.00
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SommSelect

Domaine Duseigneur, “Minha Terra” Syrah

If you read reviews of wines from the Southern Rhône Valley and Provence, you’re going to see the word “garrigue” a lot. It refers to the fragrant scrub-brush of the Mediterranean coast—juniper, rosemary, lavender—and it isn’t just a fanciful, “I’ve been to France” word to dress up a tasting note. It’s real!


It makes complete sense that grapes grown amid the garrigue pick up some of its scents and flavors (just as eucalyptus notes are a marker of many Australian wines). Which leads me to today’s wine—a delicious, naturally made rendition of “Mediterranean” red wine and a spot-on expression of serious Rhône Valley Syrah. When a wine is this true to its place and variety, it demands an audience with the SommSelect faithful, and as I write these words I not only crave my next encounter with this wine but long for the day when I’m back on the ground in the Southern Rhône, where Domaine Duseigneur is located. In most cases, Northern Rhône Syrahs receive our most rapturous praise, but “Minha Terra,” from vineyards just west of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, had everyone here buzzing. It is plush and accessible by design, but also sneakily serious, reminiscent of top-tier Saint-Joseph. I’d be more surprised if I didn’t know the team behind it: Bernard Duseigneur’s partner in the domaine is former “Best Sommelier in the World” Philippe Faure Brac, and famed Rhône enologist Philippe Cambie provides consultation. This may be an entry-level wine “designed for instant pleasure,” as Duseigneur says, but it’s a lot more than that, believe me!


Bernard Duseigneur grew up in a Southern Rhône winemaking family but spent his early professional career as an investment banker before returning home and “pitching a tent” in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. In addition to vineyards in that appellation, which are dominated by Grenache, Duseigneur has some plots of Syrah across the Rhône River around Laudun, one of the 22 villages allowed to use the Côte du Rhône Villages AOC designation. “Minha Terra” (“my land” in Portuguese) is bottled with a “Vaucluse” IGP designation instead, as the source vineyards span several communes. 



As Bernard describes it, Cambie provides unparalleled knowledge of the terroirs of the Southern Rhône, while Faure Brac serves as the master taster who “brings great precision in the choice of blends and wines.” The team’s mission with “Minha Terra” was to produce something place-expressive, easy to drink, and unadulterated, and the wine radiates purity: It was fermented on native yeasts in stainless steel, employing a ‘semi-carbonic’ maceration using whole grape clusters. It aged only in tank (no oak), with no sulfur added during winemaking.



Today’s 2018 is a vibrant and varietally true expression of Syrah from sandy, pebble-strewn soils that strongly resemble those of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. In the glass, it’s a deep purple-ruby moving to magenta at the rim, with vivid primary fruit aromas of black plum, blueberry, black currants leading into more savory Syrah notes of black olive, pepper, and roasted meat. Lots of purple flowers and wild herb notes complete the picture, everything driven by lively freshness—it is ripe and forward, medium-plus in body and with a balancing wave of freshness that’ll make it a great partner for food. Decant it about 30 minutes before serving in Burgundy stems at 60-65 degrees with something that highlights its Mediterranean-ness. In the absence of actually going to the south of France, this wine and the attached recipe will have to do. Enjoy!
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Country
France
Region
Rhône Valley
Sub-Region
FranceVaucluse
Soil
Sand, Clay, Stones
Farming
Organic Practices
Blend
Syrah 100%
Alcohol
14.5
OAK
None
TEMP.
60
Glassware
Burgundy Stems
Drinking
Now-2024
Decanting
30 Minutes
Pairing
'Provençal' Short Ribs

France

Bourgogne

Beaujolais

Enjoying the greatest wines of Beaujolais starts, as it usually does, with the lay of the land. In Beaujolais, 10 localities have been given their own AOC (Appellation of Controlled Origin) designation. They are: Saint Amour; Juliénas; Chénas; Moulin-à Vent; Fleurie; Chiroubles; Morgon; Régnié; Côte de Brouilly; and Brouilly.

Southwestern France

Bordeaux

Bordeaux surrounds two rivers, the Dordogne and Garonne, which intersect north of the city of Bordeaux to form the Gironde Estuary, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The region is at the 45th parallel (California’s Napa Valley is at the38th), with a mild, Atlantic-influenced climate enabling the maturation of late-ripening varieties.

Central France

Loire Valley

The Loire is France’s longest river (634 miles), originating in the southerly Cévennes Mountains, flowing north towards Paris, then curving westward and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantes. The Loire and its tributaries cover a huge swath of central France, with most of the wine appellations on an east-west stretch at47 degrees north (the same latitude as Burgundy).

Northeastern France

Alsace

Alsace, in Northeastern France, is one of the most geologically diverse wine regions in the world, with vineyards running from the foothills of theVosges Mountains down to the Rhine River Valley below.

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