In just over 30 years, Mas de Daumas Gassac has become one of France’s most respected wines which is an incredible feat considering it is not in one of the ‘famed areas’ for fine wine. It is, in fact situated in the Languedoc and has been described as “A Lafite in Languedoc” by Gault & Millau, “Exceptional” by Robert Parker and “One of the 10 best wines in the world” by Michael Broadbent.
The winery and vineyards are located in the
Gassac Valley in the Languedoc and was founded in 1970 by Aime Guibert and his
wife who fell in love with the area and bought an abandoned farmhouse once
owned by the Daumas family. The first vines were planted in 1972 and the first
red wine vintage came in 1978, followed by their first white vintage in 1986.
Aime Guibert, a glove maker by trade had no
real experience in making wine so after a long and arduous attempt to enlist
the services of one of France’s top oenologists of the time, Emile Peynaud
agreed to assist in the making of the wines. Mr. Peynaud was renown at the time
for making wines at Chateau Margaux, Chateau Haut-Brion, La Mission Haut-Brion
and Chateau La Lagune.
In no time at all the Guibert family had a
world class wine from an area never associated with fine wine and the winery
and the region shot to fame when Napa Valley wine mogul Robert Mondavi
attempted to buy up, and deforest, a lot of the land nearby the Gassac Valley.
Aime and his family (along with others in the area) staunchly opposed the sale
and in the end the Mondavi’s backed down and the residents got their wish.
Wine Times sat down and spoke to Aime’s
youngest son Basile, representative for Mas de Daumas Gassac and winemaker in
training about the world-renown winery, how it came to be such a prominent wine
in such a short space of time and how they fought of big corporation to keep
the village and surrounding areas in local ownership.
WTHK: Your parents knew nothing about wine or
winemaking when they bought the property right?
BG: “No, nothing. But they did love wine as my
mum’s a lover of the Rhone Valley and my dad is into First Growth Bordeaux
wines such as Latour. They did not know how to train vines, how to do
maceration and stuff like that. But they were always interested in wine. At the
time when they bought the property, my father was in the leather business which
was crashing at the time because after 1969 women no longer found it
fashionable to wear gloves. When they bought the property 30km north of
Montpellier it only had olive and fig trees…and a lot of weeds! They called
their friend Henri Enjalbert to take a look around and assess the property and
he came back after a few hours and said “you’ve got amazing soil”! So they
planted Cabernet Sauvignon and it all started from there”.
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| Basile Guibert |
WTHK: The first vintage of Mas de Daumas Gassac
was in 1978. Many people assume you’ve been around for longer than that! That
says something about the quality and the meteoric rise to fame, no?
BG: “We, the family, know we cannot consider
ourselves in such high esteem without 100 years of history and we feel like we
still have a lot to prove. The second generation is just taking over with my
eldest brother who has been working with father for about 10 years now. But you
must remember that our first market was the export market, England actually.
Michael Broadbent and Wine Spectator opened their arms to our wines which was
great. I still feel we are very young and have been fortunate that we have all
the ingredients in place to make great wines”.
WTHK: Do you think that the Languedoc is still
better known for its bad wines rather than its good wines?
BG: “If you look at the production and exports
for French wine you need to look at two things – value and volume. If you look
at the volumes, they are coming from the Languedoc. If you look at value, these
are wines coming from Bordeaux. Unlike Bordeaux, there are only a handful of
wineries in the Languedoc that make great wines so it’s harder for this region
to feed off each other’s fame. One benefit is that the Languedoc is cheaper
than Burgundy or Bordeaux for example so young winemakers can come to area and
buy land to make wines with – it’s almost like a laboratory for young
winemakers. But the soils and the micro climate in the region is perfect for
making great wines and I think it will take some time for this to happen”.
WTHK: Your father fought hard against Robert
Mondavi. Do you think that his battle has preserved a part of your region’s
heritage?
BG: “Yes, definitely. Firstly, it was the
family who fought together but my father was the face of the family. But it was
also the whole village that fought together. I don’t think it mattered that it
was an American who wanted to do this, there would have been opposition to the
plans whomever it was. They wanted to cut down an oak forest that no one should
be allowed to touch and one that should be preserved. In the end six hectares
of forest was cut down but it finally ended up with a local French winemaker.
We fought, we were happy to win but sometimes the village thinks in hindsight
that it would have been good for the image of the place to have the American
winery there. Had Mondavi had taken the land he would have done a huge
promotion campaign for the region, which would have been good. But the reason
the area is famous today is because of the hard work of our local French
wineries”.
WTHK: You are one of five brothers. Do you all
get on well or do you fight all day?!
BG: “Erm…both! We are all family and we don’t
choose who are siblings are and we don’t choose who are parents are! In terms
of inheritance for the winery, all five of us are at the same level – this is
one of the problems with France! My oldest brother always jokes that it would
have been better before Napoleon as back then it was the eldest who got everything!
It’s great that we are all going to share in the winery as a family and keep
the heritage and tradition going. But we all work well together and have
different and complimentary rolls within the family business. Working with your
brothers means you can talk frankly to each other, but it’s a lot about respect
at the end of the day”.
WTHK: Did you always want to be a winemaker
when you were growing up or was it somehow forced upon you?
BG: “I love nature. I feel the most comfortable
when I am out in the forests or amongst the vines. But I also love city life
too! I have spent a lot of my life living is cities for studying so far. But I
was born in a vineyard and I have been taught how to ‘talk’ to the vines from a
very young age. I am just learning winemaking right now under my brother at Mas
Daumas and, working at night I am learning more and more. But it’s still a
question that I ask myself; whether I am following in my father’s path because
he brainwashed me or if I am doing it for myself! I think I am pretty close to
finding the answer out”!
Mas de Daumas Gassac wines are exclusively
imported into Hong Kong by Altaya wines. For more information you can contact
them by e-mail on info@altayawines.com
or you can check out their website www.altayawines.com
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