Alcohol: 15.5%

Grape(s): 100% Grenache noir

Localization: Languedoc-Rousillon, France

Tasting Notes: Produced only in exceptional vintages, the Domaine du Dernier Bastion Maury Rancio is pure Grenache noir, selected from the estate’s oldest vines. Fermented in a 200-year-old concrete tank, the wine was aged in a 1,000-liter tonneau for eight years, then placed on the rooftop under glass and exposed to the elements for a final year before bottling. The resulting wine exhibits warming complexity and reverberative depth, its mellow Rancio character embroidered on flavors of spiced cherry, caramelized orange, fruit cake, fig, walnut, coffee, and cocoa.

Food pairing: Enjoy with creamy blue-veined cow’s milk cheeses, with nuts and dark chocolates. Serve slightly chilled or at cellar temperature.

The Domain: Domaine du Dernier Bastion has deep roots in Maury, where the Lafage family have been vignerons since 1798. Now in its eighth generation under brothers Sébastian and Fredéric Lafage, the approach remains resolutely traditional, the antique Coq vertical presses found in its small cellar in the center of Maury. The cellar is nearly as old as Queribus, the last bastion of the Cathars above Maury which gives the estate its name.

There are 15 hectares under vine, farmed lutte raisonée (sustainable), and all work in the vineyard and cellar is performed manually. Production is necessarily small, and Maury remains the focus of the brothers Lafage, as it has for generations. Dernier Bastion remains one of the few producers to maintain the tradition of Maury Rancio, aging the wine under the stars for a full year before its return to the cellar for prolonged elevage, enabling the development of its inimitable “rancio” character.

About Maury AOP
Suppose Roussillon is currently one of the most exciting and dynamic of all wine regions in France. In that case, Maury is arguably its epicenter, an emerging "grand cru" according to British wine writer Andrew Jefford and others, not unlike Priorat was 30 years ago. Set in the upper reaches of the Agly Valley in Roussillon, Maury is a corridor of windswept schist, marl, gneiss and limestone: a wild, nearly lunar landscape of old-vine vineyards dominated by the relentless Tramontana wind; the Corbières massif; and the ruined Cathar fortress of Quéribus perched above, serving as warning and sentinel. Vineyards are planted up to 450 meters, and warm days are balanced by cool nights, preserving freshness and lift in Maury wine of every type. First recognized in 1936 for its sweet Vin Doux Naturel wines, dry Maury Sec gained its own appellation in 2011. While the latter is responsible for much of the recent excitement regarding the appellation, its emergence has only raised the quality of the fortified wines for which the region is renowned. Based on Grenache noir, Maury can be bottled within the first two years (in the manner of vintage Port) or can undergo prolonged oxidative aging, with some wines left exposed to the elements, developing the noble "rancio" character that is the alpha and the omega of this historic winemaking tradition.

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