Digging up a Languedoc Treasure: Mas de Daumas Gassac 1978-2022

BY NICOLAS GREINACHER | JULY 24, 2024

With over 200,000 hectares under vine, Southern France’s Languedoc region has more area dedicated to viticulture than Australia or Chile alone. Roughly 60% of its total production is controlled by co-operatives, and the vast majority of all wines are labeled without geographical indication. While boatloads of inexpensive bulk wines dominate, the region does have a select group of ambitious producers like Château Puech-Haut, La Grange des Pères and Mas de Daumas Gassac that have pushed their juices into premium categories.

Twenty-seven vintages of the red Mas de Daumas Gassac all lined up.

Every ten years, Languedoc’s Mas de Daumas Gassac organizes a vertical of their reds at the winery going back to the inaugural 1978 vintage. On this occasion, the winery presented 27 vintages of their flagship red, an incredible opportunity to examine the wines under the magnifying glass. Within the context of a warm Mediterranean climate, Cabernet Sauvignon is the principal variety here. Yes, the same combination applies to hundreds of other Cabernets grown, for example, in California, Stellenbosch or Bolgheri. While most such wines are single-varietal Cabernet Sauvignon, some are blended with Merlot, Malbec or Cabernet Franc.

This takes me right to the point of why the Mas de Daumas Gassac wines deserve a closer look. Alongside the roughly 60 to 80% of Cabernet Sauvignon as well as the occasional Malbec, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, they contain additional varieties that readers would normally not expect to find in their Cabernets: Pinot Noir, Syrah and Tannat are almost always part of the blend, and so are other varieties such as Montepulciano, Carménère or Tempranillo. Combined with all the white varieties that go into the Mas de Daumas Gassac Blanc, around 50 individual grape varieties are cultivated and used in these wines. Before this article sheds some light on how this varietal frenzy translates into the quality found in the glass, let’s first take a brief detour in both vineyard and cellar.

Exploring the vineyards with brothers Basile (left) and Samuel Guibert (right).

Focusing on Viticulture