About Mas de Daumas Gassac

What wine with no appellation is being considered by the expert and wine connoisseurs as «The only Grand Cru of the Midi» (Hugh Johnson), «A Lafite in Languedoc» (Gault & Millau); « One of the 10 best wines in the world» (Michael Broadbent) or simply «Exceptional» (Robert Parker)?

Within 40 years the Mas de Daumas Gassac wines have reached the rare status of «cult wine» that is only given to a limited number of exceptional estates in the world.

The estate has been farmed in the traditional and natural way for hundreds of years before the Guibert family established the Grand Crus vineyard of the Gassac valley.  The terroir and microclimate of Mas de Daumas Gassac was rediscovered in 1971 by Henri Enjalbert, Professor of Geology at Bordeaux University. He considered the Gassac valley to be “the ideal and unique terroir to produce a Grand Cru wine.” The estate benefits from a rare and still unexplained red, powder-fine glacial soil strikingly similar to that of the best parts of Burgundy, as well as a cool microclimate derived from the Gassac river, several natural springs, and the influence of the nearby mountains and sea — all characteristics extremely rare in the South of France.

Divided into 63 small vineyard plots among 3.000 hectares of protected forest cultivated without any chemicals or pesticides, Mas de Daumas Gassac remains a virgin land farmed with total respect of mother Nature to preserve its balance.

With the specific soil of the Gassac valley, a very cool microclimate, dozens of different grape varieties and winemaking, ageing «savoir-faire» inspired by the great Emile Peynaud, these wines are incomparable to any other and have established a style of their own. There are few wineries on earth that one can point to as being responsible for creating revolutions, let alone in one in a country with as esteemed a wine tradition as France. Yet this is precisely what Mas de Daumas Gassac has done for the past forty years!

Recently the winery held a 30-year vertical tasting for friends, media and critics.  Here is just one of many articles published on the tasting, from Andrew Jefford of Decanter Magazine.