2009 Mas Conscience, L'As, Terrasses du Larzac, Côteaux du Languedoc
Critics reviews
David Schildknecht - 31/08/2011
About this WINE
Mas Conscience
Mas Conscience is a recent addition to the ranks of our Languedoc producers. The estate is located on the highly promising terroir of the Terrases du Larzac in the Coteaux du Languedoc, 35 killometers northwest of Montpellier.
Geneviève and Laurent Vidal farm 10 hectares of up to 55 years old, at up to 250 metres of altitude, their terroir dominated by clay and limestone, with pebble stones evidenced à la Chateauneuf-Du Pape. They subscribe to bio-dynamic viticulture, by which all the stages in the vineyard cycle are dictated by lunar and tidal patterns and treatments are organic and parcel specific.
The results are, as one might expect, full of character. Vin de Pays Le Cas is pure Carignan from 50 year-old vines; while l'As, at the higher AOC level, is a Syrah-Grenache with a small amount of Carignan.
VdP de l'Herault
Hérault is a Vin de Pays (Départementaux) French wine appellation, that encompasses vineyard area from the eponymous Hérault department in the region of Languedoc-Roussillon. Hérault is surrounded by the departments of Aude, Tarn, Aveyron, Gard, and the Mediterranean sea on the south.
The reputation of Hérault received its biggest boost by the success of the wine domaine Mas de Daumas Gassac, located to the north of Montpellier. Aimé Guibert, the founder of the domaine, planted an eccentric mixture of vines on fine, volcanic soil that was identified by oneologist Emile Peynaud to be capable of producing wines of Cru standard.
Plots of lands like this are rare in Hérault, but the ever-improving wine-making and the proliferation of international varieties deliver wines of excellent quality that compare very well with the DO appellation wines nearby. Syrah, Cab. Sauvignon, Merlot, Grenache are the dominant red wine grapes, while Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Marsanne and Viogner are the main white varietals.
Recommended Producers:
Mas de Daumas Gassac, Mas Conscience
Southern Rhône Blend
The vast majority of wines from the Southern Rhône are blends. There are 5 main black varieties, although others are used and the most famous wine of the region, Châteauneuf du Pape, can be made from as many as 13 different varieties. Grenache is the most important grape in the southern Rhône - it contributes alcohol, warmth and gentle juicy fruit and is an ideal base wine in the blend. Plantings of Syrah in the southern Rhône have risen dramatically in the last decade and it is an increasingly important component in blends. It rarely attains the heights that it does in the North but adds colour, backbone, tannins and soft ripe fruit to the blend.
The much-maligned Carignan has been on the retreat recently but is still included in many blends - the best old vines can add colour, body and spicy fruits. Cinsault is also backtracking but, if yields are restricted, can produce moderately well-coloured wines adding pleasant-light fruit to red and rosé blends. Finally, Mourvèdre, a grape from Bandol on the Mediterranean coast, has recently become an increasingly significant component of Southern Rhône blends - it often struggles to ripen fully but can add acidity, ripe spicy berry fruits and hints of tobacco to blends.
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Description
Mas Conscience is located in the highly sought after Terrasses du Larzac, 35 kilometres northwest of Montpellier. A blend of Grenache and Syrah, the two combing to form a nose of red berries, schist, rose petal and tar whilst the palate is intense and rounded, as one would expect of a benevolent vintage such as 2009.
Nicholas Stewart, Wine Buying
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