Mas Amiel Maury Prestige 15yr

90% Black Grenache, 5% Maccabeu, 5% Carignan
planted to the southerly slopes of broken shale and black marl of Maury in France, this is hand harvested into a Vin Doux Naturel Oxydatif unique in all the world. Unique to Maury, this style of fortified wine where spirit is added directly onto the fruit to check completely fermenting the sugars and preserve a bit of sweetness. This wine then spends a year in glass demijohns out in the open air and then fourteen years (right! 14 years!) in large oak casks where a gentle oxidation rounds out the fresh Grenache into an explosive bouquet of fig and chocolate with highlights of cumin, Virginia tobacco and crystallized orange. Heaven help us keep our hands off what is left! At the palate one cannot but help but marvel at its dynamic force, its textural tension, velvety mouthfeel and layers of dried fruit and cocoa through the finish. Be sure to either decant this an hour before serving as one would a liqueur or else commit to slowly sipping this over hours so as to admire its development in the glass. I’ve tried but words fail; this is such astounding wine.
Wine review by Nicholas Livingston, November 2012

Food Pairings

Try this with crystallized fruit cake, panettone, an Ashton Virgin Sun Grown cigar or an evening by the fire.