7/2/26 - 

Laguerre, Matassa, Coutelou, Dard & Ribo, Foulards Rouges, Yo-Yo and more! 

As a new shipment of wines from Eric and Paul Laguerre approached our shores, we wondered how we could round out an offer with other wines from the south of France that had a similar level of soulfulness. Lucky for us (and you), we started to get word of some exciting new arrivals that were trickling into New York around the same time: A tiny drop of wines from the profanely gifted and giftedly profane Tom Lubbe at Domaine Matassa, a new shipment from Jeff Coutelou at Mas Coutelou, 2024s (and the Printemps 2025) from Dard & Ribo in the Northern Rhone, and some re-ups and new vintages from Foulards Rouges in the Southern Rhone and Domaine Yoyo in Banyuls. Suffice it to say, we're pretty excited about today's offer, and very happy that we could roll together so many beloved producers and wineries into one glorious collection. 

-Eben Lillie

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(Left to right: David Lillie, Eric and Paul Laguerre, Eben Lillie)

Domaine Laguerre 
 
If you're a Chambers Street Wines frequent buyer or a local friend, there is no way you haven't been introduced to the wines from Corinne and Eric Laguerre. Their son Paul has officially joined the family business and we couldn't be happier. I remember teaching Paul how to tune his first electric guitar when he was about 13 years-old, so it's a great joy to see him taking the reigns and helping his mother and father with the family business! The vines are beautiful, expressing life and vitality from over 30 years without chemical treatments. The wines are quintessentially the core idea of what a bottle of Roussillon should be: complex, mineral, lifted and balanced (thanks to the altitude and influence of the Pyrenees mountains), and outrageously affordable. You could just put together a case or two of Laguerre wines and thank yourself a year or two from now, but we have more wines to banter about, and plenty of Laguerre in the warehouse, so don't stress about missing out unless you are a huge fan of oxidative wines. Their Oxy bottling, aged at least 5 years sous voile, is the absolute BEST oxidative wine for the money. Make a Coq au Vin Jaune with it and spend the extra $100 you saved on the morels :)

Text from the Chambers Street archives: A visit to Eric, Corinne and Paul Laguerre in Saint-Martin de Fenouillet requires steep climbs through a mountain pass up to the highest vineyards in the Roussillon. Here the granite soils, cooler climate, very low yields and their superb organic farming produce distinctive, balanced wines with bright fruit and firm acidities. The top wines here are named after a flowering bush called Ciste that grows throughout the vineyards contributing to biodiversity and wind protection. “Le Ciste Blanc,” (recommended to us by Jean and Pierre Gonon), is a unique blend of Marsanne, Roussanne, Vermentino, Grenache Blanc and Maccabeu, and is one of the most interesting whites of the Roussillon. "Le Ciste" Rouge is 40% Syrah, 30% Grenache, 15% Carignan, 15% Mourvèdre – it’s a beautiful wine - a Chateauneuf-du-Pape of the mountains - and a great value. The Laguerre “Eos” wines all show the firm acidities and vibrant fruit that is created by the high-altitude granite soils and cool climate. All three are perfect for everyday enjoyment – we especially love the Eos Blanc, a blend of Grenache Blanc, Maccabeu and Vermentino. 

Icing on the cake is the new P'tit Lag series, available in white and red. These are country wines that we advise you to buy dozens of, as the price for quality at $15 (before case discount!) is unsurpassed.

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Domaine Matassa

How do we count the ways? If you're curious to read even more, please CLICK HERE to read a more in-depth bio on the Matassa project. Otherwise, here's a quick briefing...

Domaine Matassa began in the early 2000s, when Tom Lubbe and a friend from New Zealand bought a small plot in the Roussillon called Clos Matassa. Tom had spent over a decade in South Africa working with Louise Hofmeyer at a domaine called Welgemeend, which was the only winery in the 90s that was dedicated to native yeast fermentation. He traveled to the Roussillon to work at Domaine Gauby, and ended up being invited to work full-time. After this time at Gauby, arguably one of the most important estates in the region for producing high quality, low intervention wines, Tom found some land with which to begin his own project. The Matassa project now spans several vineyard sites, many co-planted with white and red varieties, on a variety of terroirs, namely red schist, the rare black schist, granite, limestone and some clay.

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Mas Coutelou
 
No visit to the Languedoc is complete without at least passing by the dwelling of mad scientist Jeff Coutelou. His family's domaine is one of the first ever in the region to be certified organic. As importer Camille Riviere writes, "Mas Coutelou was the second domaine in the Languedoc to be certified in organic farming in 1987, long before it was in fashion!" Many of the concoctions he creates don't make it to the US, but luckily all of his wines do. Though we have offered a wide range of Coutelou wines in past newsletters, we've selected two wines this round, the 5SO (Cinsault) and Vin des Amis. Both are expressive and delicious and come highly recommended. 

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Dard & Ribo

The wines of Dard & Ribo have evolved to become some of the most pure and delicious wines of the Northern Rhone, much sought after by lovers of natural wines. Quantities are tiny, of course, and we are glad to offer a lineup from the delicious 2024 vintage, along with the 2025 "C'est le Printemps." For lovers of pure, balanced and elegant wines from the Northern Rhone, these bottlings from Dard & Ribo are sure to please. Though they can be categorized as "natural wines" due to the beyond organic farming and the low intervention winemaking, including no addition of sulfites, these are not defining characteristics of the wines. Their authenticity and purity help to put forth the argument that no bottle should be praised on the merits of how it is made, only by how it tastes. -David Lillie

As René-Jean Dard, of Dard & Ribo, explains: "I’ve been making sulfur-free wines since I was 15. I didn’t even know you could add sulfur to wine until going to oenology school! "You have to," they said! My dad never sulfured the wines and I basically just followed in his footsteps... A lot of people are hiding behind the word "natural" to escape criticism for their lack of serious work in the cellar. The wines are jam packed with volatility, they are muddled and murky; that's not wine. Just because you didn’t do anything to the wine doesn’t mean it's good. Making "natural" wine should not be a goal unto itself. It should be a tool to make qualitatively superior wine." (From interview with René-Jean Dard courtesy of Louis/Dressner Selections)

Please note, our sifu David Lillie reviewed legendary Rhone reviewer John Livingstone-Learmonth's notes to make sure we selected the most pure and least volatile of the Dard & Ribo wines. These have all come recommended by JLL and will reward cellaring for 5-10 years, or in some cases even longer!

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Les Foulards Rouges
 
As prolific as David Lillie is with writing about estates, we can't top the content Pascaline Lepeltier contributed during COVID, and her article on Les Foulards Rouges is perhaps a perfect example. We cannot come close to covering the nuances of the estate or the origin story, so please CLICK HERE to read the article that Pascaline originally wrote in June of 2020. 

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Domaine YoYo 
 
Domaine YoYo is the project of Laurence Manya Krief, known to many as Yoyo. She is partners with and shares a cellar alongside Jean-François Nicq of Les Foulards Rouge, moving to Banyuls in 2005 to work several small plots of mostly Grenache, Mourvedre and Carignan. In 2010 she expanded to 3 additional hectares in Albères and today has a total of about 10 hectares of vines. Everything is done by hand and, like Jean-François, she employs a minimalist approach in the cellar. The wines show incredible purity, full of character but easy to enjoy. The Alta Blanc in 2025 is a beautifully fresh blend of Carignan Blanc and Gris along with some Grenache Blanc, and La Négra is a chillable red made up of mostly Carignan with some Grenache Blanc, Gris and Rouge. These are perfect summer wines—light, full of energy and uplifting.

-Jeff DiLorenzo

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