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– FUTURE –
the Gassac valley was an advantage for us. We lost 50%
of the whites and just 10% of the reds, but without the
forests that surround the estate and our micro-climate,
we would have lost more, maybe as much as 75%”,
claimed Guibert, a week before harvesting.
It’s not just frost – weather hazards are affecting all of
France’s vineyards. By planting late-ripening varieties,
Mas de Daumas Gassac is better equipped to cope
with overripe fruit. “The profile of the wines has not
been seriously affected by the heat. Compared with
the 1980s, harvesting takes place one week earlier.
Although alcohol content borders on 14% ABV for
some red grape varieties, which was not the case thirty
years ago, we have not noticed any phenolic overripeness.
So, neither the flavour nor the profile of the
wines has changed, even though micro-changes occur
when there are unusual weather events”, explains
Guibert.
Another of the estate’s strengths is its cherry-picked
range of grape varieties, like the 0.25 hectares of Aréni
noir from Armenia, or another currently fashionable,
time-honoured cultivar, Nebbiolo. These varieties are
part of the property’s genetic make-up rather than
its desire to follow fashions. “Our parents’ ethos
was to plant grape varieties from across Europe. We
have around twenty grapes of differing nationalities.
Research has focused on their performance for the
past five years. Researchers have come to study our
Portuguese, Italian and Georgian varieties but we need
to wait for a decade until we have a reliable analysis of
their evolution”, concludes Guibert.
Daumas Gassac’s estate and farmhouse in Aniane are located amidst woodland
where the vineyards benefit from substantial biodiversity
SAVING WATER RESOURCES
In Cers, near the town of Béziers, the Alma Cersius
winery has received a shower of accolades for the range
and precision of its varietal wines produced under the
PGIs Pays d’Oc and Coteaux-de-Béziers. The group of
160 vine growers boasts 1,200 hectares under vine and
currently produces 6 million bottles of wine, 80% of
them bound for export markets. Through its singlevineyard
selections, Alma Cersius has a finely tuned
understanding of the aromatic profile of its wines.
Guillaume Bonzoms, managing director and winemaker at the Alma Cersius
winery
AUTUMN 2021 GILBERT & GAILLARD - THE FRENCH EXPERTS ON WINE 27