The story goes...

The local villagers believe the name originated from the place outside the village where meetings were held, under the “L’arbre de Moscou” the “Moscow Tree”. This tree was used as a navigation beacon by pioneers of the Aéropostale service flying out of Toulouse on their way to Perpignan, Spain, North Africa and eventually South America. Stories of these flights have been immortalised by Saint Exupéry in his many books about his exploits. The tree, an enormous pine, was struck by lightning and burned to the ground over 20 years ago. The quality of the grapes guaranteed by our vines gives us a continuity of exceptional product for vinification. Estate bottled at Domaine Gayda.

Vintage

2020

Grape Variety

59% Syrah, 35% Grenache, 6% Cinsault

Tasting notes

Deep purple, almost opaque in colour with an expressive nose of black fruits, pepper, cinnamon, spice and violets.

Organic & vegan wine

Certified organic wine and vegan friendly

Press and Awards

Millésime 2017 - 91 points - Wine Spectator . "This offers concentration and elegance, with dark cherry and crushed red plum notes infused with anise and baking spices. Syrah blend." by Gillian Sciaretta.
Millésime 2018 - 17 pts - Jancis Robinson. "Jammy blackberries ram-packed on the nose and palate and with all that yummy palms-up, happy conviviality of fruit you'd think this wine was simple but that would be a big mistake. This might be fruit forward, but it is a seriously interesting, dense, exciting, long power-ram of a wine. (TC)"
Millésime 2017 - 93 pts - Decanter. "Domaine Gayda makes some excellent wines, with this perhaps its best. A blend of 70% Syrah, 24% Grenache and 6% Cinsault, this is loaded with meaty, spicy, dark fruits and a lingering violet perfume. Aged in a mix of new barrels and old demi-muids, this spends 21 months in wood, adding finesse to the tannins. A fine wine, which shows what the IGP Pays d’Oc is capable of. "

Tasting notes

Deep purple, almost opaque in colour with an expressive nose of black fruits, pepper, cinnamon, spice and violets. A seductive palate of dark hedgerow fruits, very open and welcoming with an explosion of fruit and spice. Mineral undertones.

Vinification process

Low yielding vines - Hand picked - Hand graded selection - De-stemmed - Berry selection - Traditional vinification with 2 weeks post-fermentation maceration

Vineyards

Syrah : La Livinière, Latour de France, Calce, St Martin de Fenouillet & Brugairolles, Grenache : Tautavel & La Livinière, Cinsault : La Livinière

Ageing

21 months in French oak : A third of the Syrah in ‘Burgundy’ new oak for 9 months. Grenache and Cinsault in 500 litre ‘demi-muids’ and 2000 litre ‘foudres’ for 9 months. Blending of the best barrels of each variety followed by a further 12 months maturation of the final blend in the same barrels.

Further information

  • Alcohol : 14%
  • Total acidity H2SO4 : 3.13 g/L
  • pH : 3.7
  • Level of sulphur : 53 mg/L
  • Residual sugar : 1.01 g/L