LWF: Domaine Paul Mas launches ambitious estate wines

By Andrew Catchpole

Published: 25 May, 2018

Domaine Paul Mas is to launch three new estate wines from Languedoc and Roussillon this September, to be pitched to the market at around £50 RRP.

Harpers tasted early samples at the London Wine Fair with Jean Claude Mas, who described the projects as “terroir focused wines, looking to show the complexity of the remarkable vineyards in the regions”.

Mas has located three sites, also planting new vines, with a mix Mediterranean and international varieties, in the belief that “Languedoc-Roussillon has only just begun to show what it is capable of”, with great opportunity to up the ante and “sit alongside the best in the world”.

The estates comprise: Clos d'Astelia, producing a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated wine from the Herault region of the Languedoc; Silenus, a Syrah-led from a vineyard next to his 'home' winery at Domaine Nicole; and Laurinya, a first foray for the producer into Roussillon, close to the Pyrenees.

The wines, while being very individual in character, all shared an intensity and complexity of character, with clear suggestions of their origin - a note of 'garrigue' - even at this very youthful stage.

“It’s time now to show what wines from here can do,” he said, adding “we have to lead a path and walk this way [and] it is clear that Languedoc and Roussillon are regions for producing great wines, not volume.”

Domaine Paul Mas has long been one of the more innovative and ground-breaking producers in the south, helping build up the reputation of Languedoc-Roussillon with accessible but characteristic styles that carry the flavour of their Mediterranean roots.

Mas believes that there are many more sites, both planted to vine and unplanted, that can produce great wines, predicting that varieties such as Cinsault, Carginan, Grenache and Mourvedre will continue their rise in terms of recognition for the quality that they can deliver.

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