Mas Lasta · Anne-Laure Sicard

"Lasta" means "the last" in Esperanto: Anne-Laure Sicard's vines are the very last before the Larzac plateau, in the village of Saint-Privat in the Hérault.

An oenologist and agronomist, Anne-Laure made wine in the United States, Niagara, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Uruguay and at Château Latour in Pauillac before settling in Saint-Privat. Since 2016 she has been bringing old high-altitude vines back to life on land once farmed by the monks of the Saint-Michel de Grandmont priory, whose grapes used to go to the local co-op.

In the vineyard

Some 8 to 9 hectares of small plots among garrigue, white oaks, Roquefort sheepfolds and the wolves of the Causse. Grenache around 80 years old, Syrah, Carignan and Cinsault on warm, free-draining sandstone at 400 to 500 metres. Certified organic, hand-harvested into 15 kg crates, deliberately low yields.

In the cellar

The Pet Nat's are made by the ancestral method, with no added sugar and no disgorging. The blanc de noirs comes from directly pressed Grenache noir. Reds are destemmed, gently vinified and bottled on favourable lunar days. The wines are made in a natural spirit, with nothing added.

Appellations

The Terrasses du Larzac AOP covers red wines only, so the estate's whites and Pet Nat's are labelled Vin de France, and the 2023 Grenache-Syrah blend AOP Languedoc.