2022 Pont de Gassac, Pays d’Herault IGP Rouge, Languedoc-Roussillon, France.
This Pont de Gassac Rouge, a unique blend of 30% Syrah, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 10% Grenache, made by the famous vignoble du Mas de Daumas Gassac as part of their Moulin de Gassac label is a juicy, distinctive and enjoyable wine with deep fruit, spice and subtle earthy rustic charms. The wine-making amphitheater here in the Herault has ancient terraces, a mix of grapes and steep hills close the Mediterranean Sea, in the South of France in the Languedoc that provides for excellent ripening and had long been overlooked for quality wines, until the Guibert family started the famous Mas de Daumas. I had not had this Pont de Gassac Rouge before, so I was excited to try it, and it didn’t disappoint with a medium/full palate of boysenberry, currant, blueberry, plum and candied cherry fruits, along with hints of peppercorns, sweet fig, minty sage, anise, a touch of earth, dried lavender, crushed violets and savory tobacco notes. The slightly tannic and earthy background helps cut into the supple fruitiness, ripe grapey youthfulness in the mouth and this wine is best with simple meaty dishes and or hard cheeses. The Mas de Daumas estate, as noted here before, founded in 1971, by the legendary Aimé Guibert, first produced their Cabernet Sauvignon based red in 1978 with the help of Professor Emile Peynaud, a renowned œnologue, who had famously been an advisor to the Chateaux Margaux, Haut Brion, and Mission Haut Brion, who was a believer in the site and who helped Guibert make the wines, even by phone when needed. Peynaud was a leading light in French wine and at the time of the first Daumas Gassac vintage in 1978 he noted “I’ve advised the greatest producers in France, but never before been lucky enough to be present at the birth of a Grand Cru”, as Mas de Daumas Gassac calls itself.
The Herault area of the Languedoc is blessed with sea breezes from the near by Mediterranean Sea and complex terroir influences with a combination of schist in hilly slopes, classic limestone soils in the main wine-growing plateaus and plains, and some pebbly alluvial terraces, all of which allows for a vast array of grape varietals to flourish here. The are 32 different grapes allowed in the IGP Pays d’Herault zone and while known for their focus on the noble Bordeaux red grapes, especially Cabernet Sauvignon, the Guibert family, who’s Grand Vin Mas de Daumas is an iconic wine, has also embraced some other varietals and makes a tasty set of table wines under their second label, Moulin de Gassac, all value priced offerings. These include highly quaffable Rosé, White and Red versions, but on the more serious side they added this Pont de Gassac, which fits nicely between the basic bootlegs and the Grand Vin. This Pont de Gassac was 100% stainless steel fermented and aged, seeing a traditional maceration and matured for about 9 months before bottling. The main red varietals found here include Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan, Cinsault, Grenache, Merlot, Mourvèdre, Pinot Nor and Syrah, which this wine being a well put together mix of the Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Grenache. The Guibert family’s Mas de Daumas Gassac Grand Vin Rouge is a unique Bordeaux driven blend made from about 80% Cabernet Sauvignon along with about 20% of other grapes which could include Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Tannat, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Pinot Noir, with later vintages having some Dolcetto and even some Nebbiolo. The main Mas de Daumas Gassac estate is set on iron rich red soils in a glacial formed valley in the Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert – Cité d’Aniane area of the L’Herault region of the Languedoc, and the wines, including the white, a blend of Chenin, Gros Manseng, Viognier and Chardonnay, should be on your wish list.
($20 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive