Community Tasting Notes 41

• Xavier Auerbach wrote: 91 points

  March 29, 2024 - First bottle from a (shared) half case purchased at auction recently. Pristine condition, perfect cork, excellent level. Much lighter than the magnum tasted in November 2023. It's vibrant and fresh and energetic, gravelly and cedary, but it has lost a lot of weight of fruit, it feels quite dry and without the stuffing to balance the finely textured but very firm tannins, dry and tea-like finish, good length. A bit of a disappointment. Retaste.

  Comment

• Xavier Auerbach wrote: 94 points

  November 12, 2023 - A magnificent Mas de Daumas Gassac vertical from the private cellars of Allard Jakobs (Restaurant Sinck, Amsterdam, NL): Magnum. A very fine vintage for the estate in this period, oak is a bit sweet but attractive, deep and rich, spicy and open, finely grained tannins, liquorous fruit on the finish. Generous and structured.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• mattym19 wrote:

  January 29, 2022 - Decanted for about 2 hours, it probably needs even more. Cork was impressively (almost suspiciously ; ) pristine and so is the wine: so dark and vibrantly colored. Nose is funky, leathery, slightly tarry with red licorice and some faint ripe strawberry notes. Palate is still very much alive: strong Bordeaux -style tannins with Bordeaux-style acidity but a softer flavor: cherries, hints of violet, worn leather, more red licorice. It’s really compelling. Really hit the spot with pork and bean stew but it’s almost more impressive and delicious on its own. Has quite a youthful appearance and taste; I feel like this has lots of life left. No rush at all on these if you have them.

  4 people found this helpful Comment

• mattym19 Likes this wine: 91 points

  December 22, 2020 - It was hot, very thin and tough right out of the gate but after being open (not decanted) for about 3 hours it is coming around. The nose has some of the gravely, brambly, blackberry and grape leafy notes you might associate with the Bordeaux varieties in the blend, but the palate has a definite “wild” edge that I feel is the Syrah speaking. More blackberries, licorice and mint, and slight hints of umami are also present with very-much-still-present tannins. Overall the impression for me is still one of a very young wine; given the color and the taste I would never have been able to guess this is over 25 years old. Still it is definitely an intriguing wine, one that seems to reveal its many complexities slowly in the glass over the course of the night.
  
  Update: after a night in the fridge it is more open and definitely more southern France; cola, garrigue, ripe plums, almost blue fruits, lots of licorice. Tannins have softened but are still definitely present in the long finish.

  2 people found this helpful Comment

• forceberry wrote: 93 points

  September 8, 2020 - A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (69,1%), Syrah (11,4%), Cabernet Franc (6%), Merlot (5,2%), Malbec (4,3%), Pinot Noir (2%), Tannat (1%) and the remaining 1% rounded out by a blend of Barbera, Dolcetto and Nebbiolo from Italy. Fermented and macerated for 20 days in stainless steel tanks, aged for 12-15 months in oak barrels ranging from new to 7 years old. 12,53% alcohol, 5,3 g/l acidity and pH 3,48. Total production 62,000 bottles and 1,500 magnums. Decanted for 3 hours, tasted in a Mas de Daumas Gassac 2017-1989 vertical.
  
  Surprisingly dark, moderately opaque and slightly hazy blackish-red color with an evolved brick-orange hue. The nose feels soft, somewhat sweet-toned and slightly restrained with layered aromas of wizened dark fruits and jammy dark berries, some ripe fig, a little bit of sweet leathery funk, light raisiny tones, a hint of allspice and an oxidative touch of hoi sin. The wine is fleshy, quite full-bodied and somewhat extracted on the palate with concentrated flavors of ripe cranberries, leathery funk, some ferrous notes of blood, light tart notes of fresh red plums, a little bit of savory wood spice, a hint of wizened blackcurrant and a touch of pipe tobacco. The overall feel is somewhat tough and even slightly austere - partly thanks to the high acidity and quite assertive, grippy tannins - but the richness of the tertiary fruit characteristics round out the edges quite wonderfully. The finish is ripe, juicy and quite grippy with long, tertiary flavors of blood, crunchy cranberries, some dried raspberries, a little bit of leathery funk, light woody notes of pencil shavings, a hint of raisin and a touch of brambly blackberry.
  
  A tasty and quite developed vintage of Mas de Daumas Gassac that is quite close to its peak. There is quite a bit of tertiary fruit here, but with this much concentration and structure the wine is not going to be declining anytime soon. Seeing how well these older vintages of MdDG can age, I imagine this wine will survive for a long time in a cellar - which is nice, if one wants to let the tough structure of the wine unwind a little. Otherwise the wine benefits greatly if paired with food. While not among the absolute best wines of the vertical, a terrific effort all the same. I trust the wine will still improve from here if given enough age.

  4 people found this helpful Comment

Pro Reviews 2

Wine Definition

• Vintage 1994
• Type Red
• Producer Mas de Daumas Gassac
• Varietal Red Bordeaux Blend
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard n/a
• Country France
• Region Languedoc Roussillon
• SubRegion Languedoc
• Appellation Vin de Pays de l'Hérault

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 0 (0%)
• In Cellars 138 (63%)
• Consumed 80 (37%)

Food Pairing

Who Likes This Wine

More About This Wine