Mas Amiel - 1985
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.
The Mas Amiel 1985 is an Oxidative Vin Doux Naturel made with the mutage technique. Mutage consists of adding alcohol to the must during vinification in order to cause fermentation to stop. The resulting wine retains a portion of unprocessed natural sugar. The wine is then racked into glass carboys stored in the open air in the park, which houses 1,000 60-litre demijohns. For 1 year, the wine is subjected to the rays of the sun and thermal shocks. It is then matured for 27 years in large oak casks (350 hectolitres) that are more than a hundred years old. This wine is a blend of Grenache Noir (90%), Macabeu (5%) and Carignan (5%).
Grape varieties: 90% Grenache Noir, 5% Macabeu, 5% Carignan