Sulauze 'Les Amis' Rouge 2021

Karina and Guillaume Lefèvre met hiking across Corsica and together they built their family and domaine in the tiny village of Miramas in the Côteaux d’Aix-en-Provence appellation. 

With help from the government and a small amount of savings, they purchased Domaine de Sulauze in 2004, which was comprised of 29 hectares of vineyards, a few stone buildings, and a stone barn where a wine cooperative once operated. Together they began converting the entire estate to organic and then Biodynamic viticulture and polycultural farming, which includes wheat fields (for bread), barley (for beer), olive trees (for olive oil) and an extensive vegetable garden to feed their family and employees. Today the entire domaine is Demeter certified and a good portion is worked by animal traction.

The focus is on classic Provençal red and white varieties of the appellation including Mourvèdre, Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Rolle, Grenache Blanc, Clairette, and Ugni Blanc, all planted in sandy, limestone-centric soils. In fact, the domaine takes its name Sulauze from a soil-type known as Lauze, which is a flaky limestone with excellent drainage that protects vines from temperature variations. Su, or sur, which means "on" or "above" in French, combined with "lauze" translates to "on lauze". 

Guillaume is one of the leading voices in the region's natural wine conversation, and he is constantly experimenting, dotting the cellar with barrels of skin-macerated wines etc. That said, purity and deliciousness are the main objectives, so dogma and dirty wines don't have a place at Domaine de Sulauze. 

100% Syrah, whole bunch fermentation in stainless steel and a short rest in “demi muids” (600L casks), make Les Amis a vibrant, perfumed and light-hearted wine with seamless fruit and light herbal undertones. Bruno Sant'Anna