Maury is a town in the northern Roussillon region of southern France. Its name is best known as an appellation for the natural Sweet wines produced around the town, although in 2011 the separate AOC Maury Sec came into effect for Dry red wines, due to the recognition that a local wine industry based entirely on fortified wine was too narrowly focused. The natural sweet wines of Maury are mainly produced from the Grenache grapes (Grenache Noir, Grenache Blanc and Grenache Gris). They are produced in a style very similar to the sweet wines of Banyuls, 35 miles (57km) to the southeast, which also use Grenache.
The wines come in red, rosé and white, with the Color resulting from the rigorous winemaking techniques employed. In their youth, these wines are Tannic and intensely Fruity, but they become more flavourful and deeply coloured as they age. Maury Sec wines also focus on Grenache, although Mourvèdre, Syrah and Carignane are also allowed. Although still a small appellation - only 220 hectares were declared in 2014 - the wines have quickly gained a reputation for being among the best Full-bodied reds produced in France.
The Roussillon is home to a range of wine styles, at varying price points. Sweet fortified wines (vin doux naturel) used to dominate production, with still dry wines (vin sec) in the minority. In the last 30 years, however, this has completely changed, and vin sec now makes up the majority (80%) of the Roussillon’s output. The recent Wines of Roussillon tasting, held in London, not only highlighted many good quality dry wines being produced, but also cemented the idea that Roussillon whites are ...
The Roussillon is home to a range of wine styles, at varying price points. Sweet fortified wines (vin doux naturel) used to dominate production, with still dry wines (vin sec) in the minority. In the last 30 years, however, this has completely changed, and vin sec now makes up the majority (80%) of the Roussillon’s output. The recent Wines of Roussillon tasting, held in London, not only highlighted many good quality dry wines being produced, but also cemented the idea that Roussillon whites are ...
The focus of the symposium, unsurprisingly, was on the challenges posed by climate change. As if to illustrate the immediacy of the threat, the symposium took place during a heatwave, with temperatures of over 40°C in Bordeaux and extreme weather events recorded across the coountry: parts of southwest France saw violent storms and winds of 112kph on the evening of 20 June, while vineyards across the Médoc and St-Emilion were damaged by hailstones ‘the size of golfballs’. As Olivier Bernard of D ...
