Wine of the Week! 08/19/24

Mas de Daumas Gassac Moulin de Gassac Guilhem Rouge

Normally $15.99 / Now on Sale for $12.96
50% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 20% Carignan (Pays d’Hérault IGP)

In the 1990s, Guibert Family patriarch Aimé Guibert discovered “an exceptional amphitheatre” of vineyards in Villeveyrac, in the Hérault Department. Said amphitheater is a ring of hills facing the port city of Sète and the Mediterranean Sea beyond it. At a time when people were pulling up vines, Aimé Guibert worked with local growers to save the area. On those hills, grapes grow in dry, well-drained limestone and clay soil, rich in iron. The area’s geographic conditions conspire to allow its grapes to reach full maturity.

His Moulin de Gassac line of wines (first release, 1993) come from the grapes grown in Villeveyrac vineyards and played an important role in demonstrating the value of this area for wine production. Today, his children oversee the organic farming of their vineyards there. (They’ve even installed bat nesting boxes, because bats eat the moths which are responsible for grape worms.)

Mas de Daumas de-stems their Villeveyrac Grenache and Syrah before co-fermenting them for 10-12 days. They then age the wine for six to seven months in stainless steel tanks before bottling it unfiltered. These two co-fermented grape varieties produce a medley of deep berry fruits deftly woven into soft, supportive tannins. It whispers of sunshine, sea breezes, and the sound of the Mediterranean lulling you into a calm reverie.