Le Mas de Daumas Gassac is a French winegrowing legend. It all began in 1971 when Aimé and Véronique Guibert fell under the spell of an old abandoned farmhouse in the upper Gassac valley, near the ancient abbey of Aniane, at the gateway to the Cévennes. The following year, on the advice of their friend Professor Henri Enjalbert - a geologist specializing in the relationship between soil and grapes - they had their land analyzed. The verdict was clear: these exceptionally fine draining limestone sandstones, formed by glacial scree, are among the most unusual terroirs in France, comparable to the best plots in Burgundy. Enjalbert convinced them to plant grape varieties then unlikely in the Languedoc.
For the reds, Cabernet Sauvignon takes center stage - derived from massal selections from the best Bordeaux estates, accompanied by some twenty rare grape varieties. For the white, Aimé Guibert has chosen an even more radical blend of 13 grape varieties, all from massal selections from benchmark estates: viognier from Georges Vernay in Condrieu, chardonnay from Comtes Lafon in Meursault, plus petit manseng, chenin blanc, sauvignon, marsanne, roussanne, petit courbu, muscat petit grain, muscat d'Alexandrie, gros manseng and others. A blend that defies all convention and can claim no appellation - hence the IGP Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, an assumed freedom that places the domaine outside the norms and above classifications.
Since 2016, Aimé's sons - Samuel, Gaël, Roman and Basile - have carried on the legacy with the same exacting standards. The estate is farmed organically, with manual harvesting and minimal intervention in the cellar. The 2023 white benefits from a two- to three-day maceration on skins - a rare technique for a white wine, which enriches the aromatic material in depth - followed by full aging in stainless steel tanks to preserve the purity and freshness of the fruit.
The 2023 opens with a very floral, complex nose - yellow-fleshed fruit, honeysuckle, candied citrus, watermelon, sweet spices and white flowers. The palate is full, round and enveloping, with a dynamic balance between natural fatness and chalky freshness, a frank and lively attack softened by notes of ripe fruit, citrus and fresh almond. The finish is long, somewhat ethereal and slightly spicy. A gastronomic white of unrivalled complexity, which ages remarkably well and will continue to evolve over the next decade.
Very limited production - three bottles maximum per order recommended at certain retailers. Serve between 12 and 14°C with shellfish, roasted lobster, scallops in hazelnut butter sauce, Bresse chicken in cream sauce, noble fish, soft ripened cheeses.
Discover also the Mas de Daumas Gassac Rouge 2023 - the estate's other legend, made with Cabernet Sauvignon on the same limestone grèzes.
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