Mas Amiel - Maury Millésime 1999 (vin doux oxydatif)

Bettane & Desseauve

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

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

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

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