1998 Rouge Vin de Pays de l’Hérault

Aime Guibert was excited over the potential of his estate's '99 red. "Usually our wine is rustic early, then best at about 15 years, but the '99 is already like a confection, like chocolate," he told me. The '98 also looks to be an outstanding vintage for Daumas Gassac; polyphenol levels were very high. The red wine here is vinified in stainless steel, then spends nearly a year in barrels, 20% of which are new, before being returned to steel for three to six months more "to forget the wood." The blend is based on 75% to 80% cabernet sauvignon ("real" cabernet, not clones, as were used in the Medoc prior to 1914, said Guibert). The cabernet is vinified separately, and all the other varieties are made together like passetoutgrain; the wine is assembled prior to the malolactic fermentation. Since mid-'98, Guibert has substantially renovated his winemaking and barrel aging facility, replacing all the wood and concrete with metal and ceramic. Even the old press has been updated, with its wooden cage replaced by fiberglass. "I saw what was happening to my friends in Bordeaux," said Guibert, referring to widespread problems with TCA in the wood surfaces of numerous Bordeaux chateaux. x000D x000D x000D x000D x000D x000D Today, 35 hectares of vines are planted on this 70-acre property, including some new plantings of cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir. Production is now about 200,000 bottles but will rise to around 250,000, about two-thirds red and one-third white. No clones are planted, no chemicals are used, nor is the vinification carried out with industrial yeasts, noted Guibert. As he showed me his vineyards, he pointed to the red soil and described it as "good sweet earth, with millions of living organisms. It smells like Chanel." x000D x000D x000D x000D x000D x000D This was the first important estate in the region, and Guibert has the experience to discuss changes in climate over a period of decades. "From '78 to '88 we tended to start the harvest between September 25 and October 7. But since '89, we've picked much earlier, in mid-September, often with a lot of rain. The climate has clearly changed." (Lauber Imports, New York, NY; and Martine's Wines, San Rafael, CA).