Garrigue is the scent of Syrah

Our vineyards are a haven of natural biodiversity, especially Domaines les Auzines. Thanks to its rocky hills there are wild herbs growing everywhere, leaving scents of sage, rosemary and thyme on the wind. The natural oil molecules from these herbs get carried through the air to the vines, giving the unmistakeable essence of garrigue to our red wines, notably Syrah, that the Languedoc is so famous for. We like to gather these herbs on our weekend walks and we use them to marinate meat for the barbeque and sometimes the children dry them for scented bouquets, which they dot around the house.

We love the herby, garrigue note on our Syrah wines, particularly our single vineyard Bardou and Larmes des Fées, making them a great pairing for cheese and charcuterie plates. Often in summer it's so hot that we don't have the inclination to cook! We prefer to barbeque marinated meats and serve with salads and generally opt to chill the Syrah wines down in the fridge for an hour, as it brings out the savoury, herbal element.

At some point over the summer we usually travel back to Neasa's home country of Ireland. The kids love to see their Irish grandparents and they get spoiled rotten! We show them around some favourite spots of Neasa's childhood in West Cork and we drive to Wicklow for a refreshing Irish sea experience followed by some delicious Irish seafood for dinner. After the holidays we return to France and hold our breath until harvest.... it's always a nervous few weeks.

Enjoy your summer wherever you are,

From the team at Laurent Miquel

Brittas Bay, Wicklow Glengarriff, West Cork Inchydoney strand, West Cork