Mas Amiel - Origine 2017

Bettane & Desseauve

About wine:

Aged in large oak barrels, this dense, rather tight wine needs to breathe to fully open up. It offers plenty of fruit and freshness, along with spices and aromatic herbs. Made to be enjoyed with a meal, it pairs wonderfully with hearty dishes, including game.

About the estate:

In Maury, Mas Amiel has 150 hectares of vineyards in production, spread over 132 plots, dominated by the Cathar castle of Quéribus. Olivier Decelle (also owner of Château Jean Faure in Saint-Émilion) has acted as a patron, gradually restoring it to perfect production condition, assisted since 2007 by Nicolas Raffy, who loves this land. With the conversion to biodynamics, the expression of the wines will certainly continue to evolve in the years to come. While natural sweet wines have not been neglected, far from it, the emphasis has been placed on the production of very modern dry wines, with a wide range covering all styles. An essential source!

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

About wine:

The 2017 Côtes du Roussillon Villages Origine blends equal parts Grenache (planted in 1914), Carignan (1952), and Syrah (1995). It spent over a year in large oak casks but still seems a bit harsh and tight. It is full-bodied, with lovely notes of garrigue and black cherry, featuring crisp, dried fruit and dry, schist-like tannins on the finish. Give it another year in the bottle to mellow.

RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France

About the estate:

In the heart of the Maury terroir, at the bottom of the hillside, stands a large building with rows of demi-jeunes barrels in which nectars age for a year in the sun before being transferred to the barrel room for decades. Mas Amiel, the firstborn of the Olivier Decelle galaxy, is a page in the history of Roussillon. It is an estate that celebrates the tradition of great natural sweet wines, while also innovating with dry wines, with a refined, lively and very precise style, supported by a heritage of old vines. Nicolas Raffy, a talented Catalan winemaker, flies the flag for wines made from calcoschist, black marl and granite soils. He has identified steep plots, adapted his blends, his ageing methods and his harvest dates so that dry Maury wines can join the VDNs at the top of the range. The estate is now undoubtedly one of the great references. In recent years, the progress made with dry wines has been spectacular. The third star is approaching.

James Suckling