Food + Drink

Wine down: A chat with (one of the) the winemakers and importers of Mas de Daumas Gassac

Through the grapevine

18.10.2024

By Amanda Fung

IMAGES: VINCENT BARTOLI/MAS DE DAUMAS GASSAC & NATURE ART WINE
Wine down: A chat with (one of the) the winemakers and importers of Mas de Daumas Gassac

The world of wine is vast to say the least. With tastes being so subjective and a myriad of factors affecting the product, it’s safe to say that winemaking isn’t for the faint hearted. Yet, the winemakers at Mas de Daumas Gassac have perfected the art of it. Founded by ethnologist Véronique Guibert de la Vaissière and her husband Aimé, the producer is based in the wine region of Languedoc and operates as a family winery. Now under the management of the second generation—Véronique and Aimé’s sons, Samuel, Gaël, Amélien, Roman and Basile—Mas de Daumas Gassac has grown to become a well-loved wine label across the globe. 

 

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To spread the love even further, Basile Guibert made a trip to Malaysia to collaborate with Potager on an exclusive wine-pairing dinner. Held at the renowned restaurant, the meal offered diners a glimpse into the pours with Basile himself guiding them through the notes. During Guibert’s visit, we managed to catch up with him alongside Samuel Sze of wine importer Nature Art Wine to find out more about the art of winemaking and, of course, the wines. 

Mas de Daumas Gassac family
(L-R): Roman, Gaël, Véronique, Basile, Samuel, and Amelien Guibert; Photo: Vincent Bartoli
HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR JOURNEY IN WINEMAKING?

Basile Guibert: I started my journey being around my father and listening to him while I played in the cellar as a child. In 2009, I started getting fully involved in the Mas de Daumas Gassac winemaking. My journey in winemaking may be limited by my lifespan, but the search for great creations within this journey is endless. 

 

DESCRIBE YOUR CAREER IN THREE WORDS

BG: Terroir, observation, and Mother Nature. 

Mas de Daumas Gassac white
Mas de Daumas Gassac white
WHAT MAKES A GOOD WINE PAIRING?

BG: When you have great people around the table, a good chef, and a good winemaker!

 

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PART ABOUT THE JOB?

BG: There are two! The first is being on top of a vat full of berries or wine and being able to take in all the aromas. It’s absolutely magical. The second one is when you receive a message from someone—whether you know them or not—and they tell you that they’ve used your wine for their wedding, communion, baptism, birthday, or anything at all. Having the Gassac wines be a part of the important moments in the life of someone else is a gift and a blessing. It is the most beautiful proof of the good work we have done. 

Mas de Daumas Gassac red
Mas de Daumas Gassac red
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE BOTTLE FROM MAS DE DAUMAS GASSAC AND WHY?

BG: Mas de Daumas Gassac Grand Cru 2022 is mind-blowing at the moment! You just want to finish the bottle straight away. My favourites of all-time, however, have got to be the Vintages from 1982, 1984, and 1988. With them, you get transported to another world with tertiary aromas and hypnotising flavours that will just make you dream. You just can’t take your nose out of the glasses with them.

SAMUEL SZE: I have two actually… First, the Mas de Daumas Gassac Grand Cru 2021 red. The year 2021 was characterised by a cold winter, ending with a severe frost in April, which affected many of France’s vineyards. It resulted in a really fresh and elegant but low yield vintage, which you can open and drink with good core fruit structures. The acidity of the wine is well-integrated and subtly enlivens the wine’s smooth power. Overall, the red fruit conducts the orchestra, giving a superb velvety expression that is simultaneously dense and refined. There’s breathtaking ageing potential here!

The second one is the Mas de Daumas Gassac Grand Cru 2020 white. It’s a multi-layered pour, where the different fruits’ characters combine with honey, wax, lime, and—interestingly—Bentong ginger! It feels like a heavy pewter spoon, tarnished into a worn beauty, pressed into warm wax, and laid on bronze silk. I keep coming back for more! It’s the perfect white for a red lover. 

An aerial view of the vineyard; Photo: Herve Leclair
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR MAS DE DAUMAS GASSAC IN THE NEAR FUTURE?

BG: We’re actually creating a new vineyard with my family surrounding our values of liberty and creativity!

 

HOW DOES ONE SELECT A WINE TO BRING IN TO MALAYSIA?

SS: We aim to complement the vibrant wine scene in Malaysia by offering undiscovered gems and under-the-radar wines with a high quality to price ratio. And of course, it also has to be a great drink with a rich story. We especially love working with producers who share the same philosophy of respecting nature and the terroir. 

Sze at the Mas de Daumas Gassac winery
WHY DID MAS DE DAUMAS GASSAC CATCH YOUR EYE?

SS: The vineyard has received widespread acknowledgement, even described by The Times to taste like a Latour as well as the GaultMillau as “the Lafite Rothschild of the Languedoc-Roussillon”. It is frequently referred to as the grand cru of the Languedoc. We were also amazed by the story of pure grit and perseverance from a modest location to producing extremely serious, long-living red and whites. 

The story behind the vineyard also drew us in. Véronique and Aimé Guibert, together with the help of Henri Enjalbert (a professor at the University of Bordeaux), studied the vineyard’s soils for several hours. Enjalbert recognised similarities in the soil’s profile to that of sandstone from the Ice Age, which is also found in the Côte d’Or region of Burgundy. With that, he was quickly convinced that Mas de Daumas Gassac had the potential to produce grand cru-level wines in this region, but warned the Guiberts that recognition could take centuries. Yet, the couple was up for the challenge and so began the tale of this vineyard that has achieved legendary success with the help of famed oenologist Émile Peynaud, who was pivotal in the production of its first vintage 1978.

 

IN YOUR PERSPECTIVE, HOW IS MAS DE DAUMAS GASSAC DIFFERENT FROM OTHER WINEMAKERS?

SS: The current second generation owners continue their long-term work, keeping the family heritage alive by producing exceptionally fresh and elegant wines that express their origin with great potential for ageing. Here, they are consistent but at the same time, every vintage tells a different story with the utmost respect for Mother Nature

 

To learn more about Mas de Daumas Gassac and its history, visit its official website. For orders and purchases of Mas de Daumas Gassac and other exquisite wines, contact Nature Art Wine at +6017 877 9039 or visit its website

 

 

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