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Casot des Mailloles

Comax Ethylix Syrah 2019

Price: $29.95
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Tasting notes

Syrah from granite at 550-600 meters reads nothing like a typical southern French red: the fruit is crunchy and high-toned, raspberry and black pepper over garrigue, with a grip that comes from the site rather than extraction. Jordi Perez's three-part vinification, blending whole clusters, destemmed fruit, and direct-pressed juice, builds texture without weight.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
RaspberryBlack PepperGarrigueCherry
  • Style: Dry, medium-bodied red; Syrah from 550-600m granite soils; bright red fruit, garrigue, black pepper; Vin de France
  • Grapes & Terroir: 100% Syrah; certified organic; granitic sandy soils; Tarerach, Pyrénées-Orientales; 550-600m elevation; ~20 hl/ha yield
  • Winemaking: 1/3 whole cluster, 1/3 destemmed, 1/3 direct press; short maceration; indigenous yeast; stainless steel aging; no fining, no filtration, no added sulfites
  • Serving: Serve at 60-64F; decant 20-30 minutes; drink within 5 years of vintage
  • Pairing: Lamb, merguez, slow-braised pork, aged sheep's milk cheese, charcuterie
  • Similar To: For fans of northern Rhone Syrah or cool-climate reds who want a natural, unfiltered southern French expression

Comax Ethylix is a Vin de France red from Jordi Perez at Casot des Mailloles, sourced from a single parcel in Tarerach, a village at 550-600 meters elevation in the Pyrénées-Orientales, at the border of the Aude and Ariège departments. The vines grow in granitic sandy soils, distinct from the dark schist of the estate's home base in Banyuls-sur-Mer. This altitude and granite combination gives the wine a freshness and lift rarely associated with southern Roussillon Syrah.

Farming is certified organic, with permanent plant cover and horse-drawn tillage under the vine rows. Yields run around 20 hl/ha. Harvest is done by hand. Vinification uses a three-part approach: one third whole clusters, one third destemmed, one third direct press. Maceration is kept short, fermentation occurs with indigenous yeasts, and the wine is raised in stainless steel vats. No fining, no filtration, no added sulfites.

The wine is labeled Vin de France rather than Collioure AOC, as Casot des Mailloles has historically opted out of the local appellation system. Tasting notes across vintages consistently show bright red fruit, spice, and a firm tannic structure with good energy. Decanting for 20-30 minutes is recommended, especially young.

Works well with lamb chops, grilled merguez, or a slow-cooked lamb shoulder with herbs. The firm tannins and garrigue character also make it a strong match with aged sheep's milk cheese or a board of charcuterie. If you want to push the pairing, try it with a Catalan-style slow-braised pork with tomatoes and olives.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Red Wine
Wine Style:, Medium Body
Grapes:, Syrah
Farming:, Organic
Vintage:, 2019
Alcohol:, 13%
Country:, France
Region:, Roussillon
Appellation:, Vin de France
Bottle Size:, 750ml
Sugar Level:, Zero Added Sugar

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.


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If you'd like to receive a refund for a package that was returned to us after FedEx made three delivery attempts, we can do that but we must keep a $20 refund fee; FedEx charges us a lot of money for returns, unfortunately, I can't stress this enough.


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2. As soon as your order ships from the warehouse, usually within 2-3 business days, this applies to all shipping rates, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with your tracking information. 2DAY shipping refers to shipping time; we still need 2-3 business days to prepare an order. We need to pick and pack, QA, add printed collateral, and palletize the orders.

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If you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact us at (424) 414-2040 or via e-mail at hello@primalwine.com between 9 am and 5 pm Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Sunday, we would like to understand and try to solve your concerns. We can offer refunds only as store credit.

Producer profile

Casot des Mailloles

Casot des Mailloles was founded in 1994 by Alain Castex and Ghislaine Magnier on steep terraced vineyards above the town of Banyuls-sur-Mer in the Pyrénées-Orientales. The name comes from the stone shelters found throughout the region's vineyards, where workers traditionally took refuge from heat, rain, and the Tramontane wind. The estate covers five hectares and produces around 12,000 bottles per year. In 2015, Castex and Magnier handed the estate to Jordi Perez, a Catalan winemaker who had trained in viticulture and oenology at Blanquefort and completed internships ranging from Grand Cru Bordeaux estates to small producers in Côtes de Gascogne.

The home vineyards in Banyuls sit on dark schist terraces too steep to work by machine. Perez added a separate parcel in Tarerach, around 550-600 meters elevation, with granitic sandy soils, which he uses for the Comax Ethylix cuvée. All vineyard work is certified organic. Permanent plant cover is maintained between rows, and the vines are worked under the row with horse traction. Amendments are organic only. Volcanic sulfur and plant preparations are used in minimal quantities for vine protection.

Vinification is entirely natural across all wines: indigenous yeast fermentations only, no added sulfites, no fining, no filtration. For Comax Ethylix, Perez uses a divided approach to the harvest, combining whole clusters, destemmed grapes, and direct-pressed juice in equal thirds. Maceration is kept short. Aging takes place in stainless steel vats for a few months before bottling. The wines are labeled Vin de France, a designation Castex and Magnier used from the start after the local AOC tasting committee repeatedly excluded their wines.

Wine region

Roussillon, France

Roussillon sits in the southernmost corner of France, bounded by the Pyrenees to the west and south, the Corbières mountains to the north, and the Mediterranean to the east. The region has more than 320 days of sunshine annually, making it the hottest and driest wine region in France. The dry northern wind known as the Tramontane sweeps through regularly, controlling humidity and reducing disease pressure in the vineyards. Soils vary considerably, from dark schist on the coastal terraces of Banyuls and Collioure to granite and clay-limestone inland. Vineyards reach from near sea level at the coast to over 600 meters in the foothills.

Roussillon's best-known appellations include Banyuls and Banyuls Grand Cru, historically famous for fortified Grenache-based Vins Doux Naturels, and Collioure AOC, which produces structured dry reds from Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Carignan. Many of the region's most interesting dry wines, however, are labeled Vin de France or Côtes Catalanes IGP, often because producers have planted varieties or farmed in ways that fall outside AOC requirements. The Tarerach area, inland in the Pyrénées-Orientales near the Aude border, offers granite soils and altitude that produce a cooler-climate style distinct from the coastal schist appellations.

Frequently asked question

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.

Signature on delivery is mandatory for wine deliveries. Please make sure someone is at the shipping address to sign for the package.

If applicable, please consider delivering the package to a business address to ensure someone is available to sign for the package.

We also have the option of delivering the package to a Carrier's store for pickup. Please reach out to us to coordinate.

Carrier will try to delivery a package up to three times before returning the package to us.

See here our shipping policy.

If you miss a delivery and a package gets returned to us we have two options:

1) Reship the package right away: due to the very high cost of shipping and returns, we must charge a re-shipping fee to be determined based on package size and shipping destination.

2) Consolidate the returned package with your next order: this option is free of charge and it's the most popular option.

See here our shipping policy.

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