Mas de Daumas Gassac was established in the 1970s, and since then has come to be described by some as the Grand Cru of Languedoc. Such hyperbole may in some way be warranted, as the estate has indeed turned out some wines of excellent quality over the last few decades. What is more, they are made very much in the Bordeaux mould, based on Cabernet Sauvignon, with the necessary structure and substance for a prolonged period of ageing in the cellar. And I have, more than once, seen them mistaken for a St Estèphe in a blind tasting.
The story of how Mas de Daumas came to be has been well described; it begins with the purchase of the property by Aimé Guibert, a Parisian glove manufacturer; he and his wife Véronique were looking for a family home away from city life, and had no intention of making wine. They stumbled across Mas de Daumas Gassac, an abandoned farmhouse owned by the Daumas family in a valley shaped by the flow of the Gassac. The pair purchased the property and set about its renovation, but they also surveyed their land and naturally considered what they should plant there. It may have been olive trees, or a fruit orchard, had it not been for a friend of theirs who visited them in 1971.
The friend in question was none other than Professor Henri Enjalbert, the renowned oenologist, and it was he that provided the spark to light the tinder of Mas de Daumas Gassac. Whilst walking around the estate he recognised that the combination of the red glacial soils beneath the local garrigue, together with the altitude and the nocturnal currents of cool air that passed over the slopes made this an ideal spot for viticulture. His enthusiasm seemed to ignite a passion within Aimé Guibert and his wife; it was barely a year before the first vines were planted, the beginnings of perhaps the most significant Languedoc vineyard of all. These were un-cloned Cabernet Sauvignon vines, propagated from cuttings taken from Bordeaux vineyards three or four decades before. With the first vines in place in 1972, work began on constructing a cuverie on the site of an ancient Gallo-Roman water mill, which was not completed until 1978, just in time for the first vintage. This was undertaken with advice from another great name associated with Bordeaux, the oenologist Professor Emile Peynaud. Under his aegis the 1978 Mas de Daumas Gassac went from fermentation vessel to barrel and then, in 1980, to bottle. There were in fact nearly 18000 bottles, which the Guiberts had some considerable difficulty selling, relying heavily on friends, family and other acquaintances to buy and market the wine. This situation was not to last long, not once Gault et Millau labelled the estate as the Languedoc Chateau Lafite; sales of the red wine exploded. Meanwhile, Guibert was busy planting up a mix of white varieties, namely Viognier, Chardonnay, Petit Manseng and Chenin Blanc for the Mas de Daumas white. The first vintage for this wine was the 1986, bottled and sold in 1987.
Today there are now over 50 hectares planted up, predominantly with Cabernet Sauvignon, and also with a range of other varieties, some of which may cause a few eyebrows to rise. These include Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Tannat and Pinot Noir, as well as a collection of Italians - Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto - and other uncommon varieties. The white varieties are mainly Chardonnay, Viognier, Chenin Blanc and Petit Manseng, but also Marsanne, Roussanne, Sercial, Muscat and more. The fruit is harvested with yields in the order of 35-40 hl/ha, and the harvest is entirely by hand into 20 kg open weave baskets. Once these have been carried to the cellars, the fruit is sorted by hand on tables, destemmed and then fed by gravity into the inox (stainless steel) fermentation vats. After these the red wine is run into barrel, a mix of Merrain Bordeaux and Burgundy barrels, which are replaced every seven years, so the new oak influence is minimised. The red will rest here for 12-15 months before bottling, after a light egg-white fining and no filtration. As for the white, this has some skin contact for up to seven days, then fermented in inox and filtered by passage through fossilised seashells.
The grand vin at Mas de Daumas Gassac is the standard red bottling, a Vin de Pays de l''Herault. This wine is destined for the cellar, the advice from Aimé Guibert being that it frequently needs decades of bottle age - tastings of the 1985, 1983 and 1982 below would seem to confirm this. The Mas de Daumas Gassac Blanc, also a Vin de Pays de l''Herault, is approachable young but from experience I know it will age well also. It is a blend of 30% each of Chardonnay, Viognier and Petit Manseng, with other varieties mentioned above making up the remainder. In addition to these two wines, there is a new super-cuvée Emile Peynaud, of which the first vintage is the 2001. This wine represents just a small plot of the Daumas Gassac vineyards, using fruit from just the first hectare of Cabernet Sauvignon ever to be planted at the domaine. Finally there is Vin de Laurence, a fascinating blend of late harvest Muscat (50%) and Sercial (50%) which, when I first tasted it, reminded me more of Madeira than anything else.
In addition to the estate wines Aimé Guibert also produces a range of wines under the Moulin de Gassac label. These wines are the result of Guibert''s realisation that subsidies were causing many of the old vines around his estate to be uprooted. With his support a number of vineyards rich in old vines that would otherwise have been uprooted have been saved. The range is broad, including varietal vin de pays bottlings and Guilheim, Les Grands Terroirs and Figaro labels. I remember, prior to any real knowledge of Mas de Daumas Gassac per se, discovering the red from the latter of these three labels in the 1993 vintage; it was hugely flavoursome and excellent value for money. Nevertheless, although these wines clearly have some merit, without doubt the highest level of quality and interest comes with the Mas de Daumas wines. Now with many years of tasting and experiencing these wines, and with some vintages in the cellar, both old and young, these are wines that I am happy to recommend to anybody, especially those interested in Bordeaux and similarly styled wines. (3/2/04, updated 10/9/08)
Contact details:
Address: 34150 Aniane
Telephone: +33 (0) 4 67 57 71 28
Fax: +33 (0) 4 67 57 41 03
Internet: www.daumas-gassac.com
