Mas Amiel - Vers le Nord 2019
Mas Amiel is located in Maury, in Roussillon. In 1816, around a gaming table, the bishop of Perpignan was opposed to an engineer, Raymond Etienne Amiel. The clergyman ends up betting on one of his lands, called Domaine des Goudous. Luck is not on his side and the estate changes hands. The property then has 10 hectares of vines in the middle of the garrigue. In 1907, Mas Amiel was taken over by Charles Dupuy who ran the estate until his death in 1916. His son Jean took over when he returned from the war. He developed and produced a natural sweet wine under the brand "Mas Amiel". His son, Charles, will continue the expansion until 1997. The estate will be taken over in 1999 by Olivier Decelle. Today, the 170 hectares of vines are divided into 130 plots and the grapes are used to produce Vins Doux Naturels as well as Maury Sec, AOC recognised in 2011. The estate is certified organic since 2014.
Vers le Nord comes from a 2-hectare plot in La Devèze. It is mainly composed of Grenache Noir, co-planted with Syrah(about 8%). The harvest is manual then the grapes are sorted twice, on a carpet and a vibrating table. A third of the harvest is destemmed and vinification takes place in 50-hectolitres stainless steel vats. The wine is transferred to concrete vats for ageing.
Grape varieties: Grenache, Syrah