The Roussillon village of Espira de L’Agly is located at the very eastern end of the Agly Valley, just 20km from the Mediterranean and 3km northwest of Rivesaltes. Along with Banyuls and Maury, Rivesaltes was one of the most famous villages for production of Vin Doux Naturel in the region. During the first half of the 20th century, these aperitifs were immensely popular: in Rivesaltes alone, the annual production during the ’50s and ’60s was upwards of 70 million bottles a year. Today, that’s plummeted to less than three million.

With this evaporation of demand, many farmers in Espira de L’Agly ripped out their vines and converted to orchards, but the family of Domaine des Lampyres’ François-Xavier Dauré is one of those rare ones in the village who held onto their vines. It’s a reason to count our lucky stars for those who manage to preserve their patrimony against fluctuating economics—especially since François-Xavier is making some of the most charming and expressive wines in the Roussillon right now.

If you ask Dauré—F.X. is his nickname—he’ll tell you he was destined to become a vigneron. He’s the 4th generation of Dauré to grow grapes in Espira de L’Agly, and many of his earliest memories take place on a tractor with his father. From a young age, Dauré worked the vineyards with his family. Their whole production was sold to the local co-op, however, so he looked elsewhere to learn to make wine. In 2008, Dauré began working with different vignerons in the Roussillon. Intrigued by organic farming and natural winemaking, he joined Tom Lubbe at Matassa in 2015. That same year, Dauré also took control of his family’s domaine and immediately began converting to organic farming. For five years, he was Lubbe’s right hand in the vines and cellar at Matassa, while also farming 16 hectares of his own. During that time of having two full-time projects, often Dauré was in his vineyards hours before sunrise, using a headlamp to see. Neighbors joked he looked like a lampyre, or firefly: Domaine des Lampyres was born. 2016 was Lampyres’ inaugural vintage, with just 600 bottles made in Dauré’s garage. In 2018, Dauré converted a small barn into a cellar and decreased the amount of family fruit sold to the co-op. 2019 was F.X.’s last vintage at Matassa, and despite the year’s brutal summer heat wave that destroyed half the region’s crop, Dauré still managed to produce remarkable wines.

The unique situation here affords experimentation across the Domaine des Lampyres range: seven vineyard parcels covering 16ha; the smallest is .5ha and the largest 5ha, and none of the parcels are planted to a single variety. For Dauré, a main theme in the wines is the blend, both across varieties and vineyard site, and it’s common for him to change those up from vintage to vintage. F.X. is still experimenting as to what varieties, soil types, and parcels he likes together, but the climate at least is quite is clear: sunny, arid, and windy the majority of the time, and it hardly ever rains (this means copper and sulfur applications in the vineyard are minimal, if at all). Schist and argilo-calcaire dominate, with very little topsoil in the area. In terms of farming, in addition to the organics, Dauré is also working with homeopathic treatments like the application of horsetail and nettle spray, plus early forays into certain biodynamic preparations.

In general, Dauré’s wines remind us of Matassa, yes, but also of other great natural producers in the Roussillon like Bruno Duchêne, Domaine YoYo, and Jean-François Nicq of Domaine Foulards Rouge: 50% pure, 50% rustic; not shy of ripeness, with tremendous refreshment. Domaine des Lampyres is already F.X.’ work entirely, demonstrating a feeling for terroir, for fermentation, and for his varieties; they demonstrate the Roussillon’s special herbal-mineral streak. We’re thrilled to get behind Dauré in some of his earliest vintages and are excited to share these glowing wines.