"It looks like prune juice. It smells of licorice tea, smoked anise and linseed. Surprisingly smoky and meaty. Prunes. Stunning concentration - it feels as if the wine has been extracted from the heart of the earth. There's so much here that it's impossible to do this wine justice in a quick tasting. This wine requires hours of time and attention. It's an imposing sculpture. To grasp it, you have to sit with it, listen to it, give it a chance to tell its story." (Jancis Robinson 2024)
Features
Estate
Mas Amiel
Cuvée
Millésime 99
Vintage
1999
Designation
Maury
Region
Roussillon
Grape varieties
90% Grenache Noir, 5% Maccabeu, 5% Carignan
Terroirs
Decomposed schists and black marl, south-facing
Viticulture
Reasoned
Harvest
Manual
Winemaking
The grapes are macerated for 30 days to extract the aroma and polyphenols contained in the berries, resulting in a well-balanced structure of fruit, alcohol and sugar.
Breeding
12 months in outdoor glass carboys, followed by 22 years in 350 hl oak tuns
Alcohol content
16%
Residual sugars
> 50 g/l
Tasting & pairing
Eye
Mahogany dress
Nose
Opens with notes of prunes and plums mingled with candied oranges, followed by notes of spices both sweet and mild, with a jammy finish.
Mouth
Lots of substance, between roundness and freshness, tannins balanced with sugar, acidic finish with saline notes.
Serve
Decant at 15°C
Open
1 hour before
Drink before
2030
Food and wine pairing
Goes very well with a spicy pastilla, an old Comté cheese, a chocolate dessert...
Mas Amiel
Maury
Expert opinion
Bettane & Desseauve
Wine rated 99/ 100
Domain rated 4*Stars (Top-quality producers, the glories of French winegrowing)
About the wine:
Silkier to the touch than the 30 ans, more elegant and caressing, with almost salty, soy-like aromas and hints of brandy and old boy jam. A broad palette. A never-ending festival on the finish.
About the domain :
In Maury, Mas Amiel boasts 150 hectares of vines in production, spread over 132 parcels, dominated by the Cathar château of Quéribus. Olivier Decelle (also owner of Château Jean Faure in Saint-Émilion) has worked as a patron of the arts, gradually restoring the estate to a perfect state of production, assisted since 2007 by Nicolas Raffy, a lover of the land. With the conversion to biodynamic viticulture, the expression of the wines will certainly evolve further in the years to come. While natural sweet wines have not been abandoned, far from it, the emphasis has been placed on the production of very modern dry wines, with a wide range covering all styles. An unmissable source!
Robert Parker - Wine Advocate
Domain rated (guide 2021) Recommended (Wine producer recommended by Robert Parker - The Wine Advocate)
RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France
Domaine rated (2024 guide) 2*Stars (These great estates, often blessed with fabulous terroirs, are must-haves which, because of their consistency and the excellence of their production, must be included in the cellars of discerning wine lovers).
About the domain :
In the heart of the Maury terroir, at the foot of the hillside, a large building and rows of demi jeannes in which nectars age for a year in the sun, before moving on to the tuns for decades. Mas Amiel, the first born of the Olivier Decelle galaxy, is a page in Roussillon history. An estate that celebrates the tradition of great natural sweet wines, while renewing itself in dry wines, with a refined, sanguine and very precise style, supported by a heritage of old vines. Nicolas Raffy, a talented Catalan winemaker, raises the bar for wines made from calcoschists, black marl and granite. He has identified steep plots, and adapted his blends, ageing and harvest dates so that the dry Maury wines join the VDNs at the top. Today, the domaine is unquestionably one of the great references. In recent years, progress on the dry side has been spectacular. The third star is approaching.
Jancis Robinson
Wine rated (guide 2024) 19,5/ 20
About the wine:
It looks like prune juice. Smells of licorice tea, smoked anise and linseed. Surprisingly smoky and meaty. Prunes. Stunning concentration - it feels as if the wine has been extracted from the heart of the earth. There's so much here that it's impossible to do this wine justice in a quick tasting. This wine requires hours of time and attention. It's an imposing sculpture. To grasp it, you have to sit with it, listen to it, give it a chance to tell its story.
James Suckling
Rated Domaine (2023 guide) Recommended
Customer reviews
Customer rating
5/5
on 1 reviews
Note and review by M. VINCENT L. Published on 01/09/2024
First contact with a Maury, and what a contact... Pure prune juice, a perfect match for the full-bodied dark chocolate profiteroles we enjoyed with it. We'll have to explore it further, as it's so silky, smooth and complex that it's impossible to cover it all in one go.
See all reviews from this customer
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