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Wine Description
The Story
When to enjoy Daumas Gassac white vintages
Important: our whites have two distinct incarnations.Don’t muddle them ! Be aware when choosing which one to drink so as not to be disappointed !
The two lives of Daumas Gassac white wines
First Life – Wonderfully fresh and fruity. The early years
Unlike our red wines which are dominated by a single grape variety - (uncloned) Cabernet Sauvignon - our white wines spring from an infinitely complex blend. Four main grape varieties : Viognier, Chardonnay, Petit Manseng and Chenin, make up 90% of the wine. The other varieties : an intriguingly subtle blend including petit Courbu du Béarn, petite Arvine from the Valais, Rhole from Provence, Marsanne from the Rhône, anything up to ten other splendid European varieties.
The result ? A truly Grand Cru that is incredibly pure and fresh, bursting with fruit, yet delightfully smooth almost voluptuous. Our white wines are equally delicious drunk as an aperitif as with a meal, in fact they drink beautifully with almost all dishes.
Second Life – A metamorphosis between 3 and 6 years !
The fruitiness fades and the feshness disappears. New and quite different flavours come through, evolving into something reminiscent of sherry or old Sauternes, a touch “oxidative” with great finesse. You’ll either love it or you won’t ! If you aren’t looking for this type of somehow paradoxical wine, keep an eye on it and drink it during its first couple of years.
Wine Information
The 1998 climate can partly explain the vintage’s sophistication: intense heat was followed by cool weather during the harvest, with regular showers bringing 20mm of water during September, freshening up the vine leaves and grapes thus avoiding overheating the very ripe fruit (6° during the harvest).
Soils
White Lutetian Limestone.
Grape varieties
25% Viognier – 25% Chardonnay – 25% Petit Manseng – 15% Chenin Blanc and 10% other grape varieties including Courbu from Bearn, Petite Arvine from Valais, Rhole from Provence, Marsanne from the Rhone valley and 10 other rare grape varieties.
Vinification
Skin maceration for 5 to 7 days. Fermentation in stainless steel tank.
Maturing
2 to 4 months in stainless steel tank.
Harvest
100% Manual
Yield
35 hl/ha
Alcohol
13 % Vol
Production
45 000 to 60 000 bottles.