France, Languedoc
Comments
First Growth Languedoc. Exceptional and unique, the region's most famous estate.
Responsible for its success is Aime Guibert, who bought a house near Montpellier in the 1970s and, with the encouragement of oenologist friends, planted a vineyard next to it. The first commercial wine was made in 1978 and almost immediately brought the Gassac vineyard into the pantheon of French winemaking. It was the first address in the Languedoc to focus on fine wine rather than everyday, fruity and quenched wines. The Mas de Daumas Gassac wine also became the first non-Bordeaux wine to start being offered at Place de Bordeaux. Stylistically, the wine has always been closer to more northerly regions. It is based on the cabernet sauvignon varietal, and owes its unique character to the several percent blend of local, sometimes completely unusual varieties.
These wines are renowned for their tremendous aging potential. The 2011 vintage sounds like Grenache-based wines from the south of the Rhône - lots of ripe, sometimes dried red fruit, no small amount of garrique herbs and heated stones. 2011 was not particularly kind to the region's producers, and let's remember that at the time they had neither today's experience nor today's coping capital. Gassac, however, underlines its class with it. The wine is at a point where it will give you a great deal of pleasure today.
