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Mas Amiel Maury Rouge 1980  - First Bottle

Reviews

94 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate -
The seductive 1980 Maury Vintage features walnut-aged aromas but also plentiful cherry fruit, even after nearly 40 years of aging. It's fresher and more vibrant than the NV 40 Ans, if perhaps a touch less complex. Medium to full-bodied, it finishes silky and long.
93 Tom Cannavan -
Aged for one year in glass demi-johns, then 19 more years in large oak vats before release. It has a stunning nose that is sweet and aromatic, with herbs, tobacco, spices and camphor, lots of sweet chocolaty vanilla and a red plum fruitiness. On the palate a beautiful sweetness of ripe, deep, chocolate and rich autumnal berry fruit, with brown sugar and cherry notes and a deep, glossy character. It has an endless finish, with more delicacy of tea and tobacco, and a warming coffee core.

Technical Details

  • Blend90% Grenache Noir, 5% Macabeu and 5% Carignan
  • CountryFrance
  • RegionLanguedoc-Roussillon
  • AppellationMaury
  • Farming MethodCertified Organic
  • Alcohol16%

Mas Amiel Maury Rouge 1980

Proprietary Blends  |  France
WA94, TC93

Certified Organic
36% off retail!

Mas Amiel makes some of the most interesting wines you will ever taste. Similar to vintage port, but not as sweet or as boozy. Intensely layered, remarkably deep, and delightfully complex wines that truly are a singular experience. Think of what you were doing in 1980...if you were even born yet! This is a wine to transport you back in time and make the present that much sweeter, all at the same time!

Just think...a gallon of gas was $1.19. VHS tapes ruled the world. CNN was born. Pac-man was released. And MAS AMIEL in southern France made an absolutely head-spinning, skin-tingling sweet wine of 90% grenache, 5% carignan, and 5% maccabeu and put it in a glass demi-john bottle to oxidize outside for a year. This was followed by aging in 350 hl oak casks for the next 41 years until we found them a year back, and well...here we are! This is so off the rails good – you’ve never had anything like it (unless you got the 1969 or 1985 we sold some years back!!)...ultra-limited and certainly not to be missed! This is thought-provoking, serious, and supremely drinkable stuff – a digestif wine from one of the most extreme winemaking regions on earth...94 POINTS Wine Advocate is just scratching the surface...certified organic to boot these days, and long-time practicing, but organic certification wasn’t really a think back in 1980.

Maury is in a rocky, sun and wind-blistered region of southern France (Roussillon) and has a fascinating history. This property dates back some 200 years and is much loved among sommeliers around the world for its unique, Grenache-based, completely unique winemaking style. It's a fortified wine that will probably last another half CENTURY if you were so inclined, but whenever you drink it, prepare to be stunned. This rich, insanely nutty/fruity, and aromatic wine is utterly packed with wild and beguiling aromas and flavors...a true experience. The easy flavor description for us is chocolate-covered figs and/or fig jam. Then comes waves of roasted sweet walnuts, dates, raw almonds and hazelnuts, sweet Thai iced coffee, green cardamom, bittersweet cocoa nibs, spearmint, caramel, roasting coffee beans (or torrefaction, if you wanna get super dorky) – just some of what's going on...lightly sweet and a finish that goes on until you are climbing into bed, satisfied and glowing. So rockin’ cool...while it lasts!! Nearly 43 years old, 94 points, this silly price...just wow. While it lasts..!

About the Producer

Mas Amiel’s winemaking practices are similar to its vine-growing techniques. The wine is made very carefully without unnecessary intervention, and the procedures are adapted to each parcel. Situated at the foot of the Pyrenees, the 170 hectares of vines at Mas Amiel are divided into 130 parcels, extending throughout the heart of the scrubland, wild plants and shrubs. When Olivier Decelle discovered this exceptional location in 1999, he decided to set the objective of making great wines. Mas Amiel has always produced highly regarded sweet wines. The aim has been that of improving upon the vineyard’s standard of quality to establish Mas Amiel as an internationally renowned wine estate. The other challenge has been that of creating great dry wines in a region that decided to limit its production in the 1950s. But its great terroir is still present. Mas Amiel’s strength resides in the richness and diversity of its terroir.