Wines from Mas de Daumas Gassac are legendary for over 40 years within the world of collectors and critics. Started in the 70’s when founders Véronique and Aimé Guibert found a plot of land and a farmhouse in on the outskirts town of Aniane, France, Gassac has been both a cult favorite and a sought out wine long before the trophies of Napa Valley were en vogue.
Over time the winery evolved, producing Vin D’Pays wines that defy the AOC rules, made with grapes that are not local to the Languedoc, but right for the soil.
Often thought of first for their ethereal red wines that often with age rival the best top growth Bordeaux wines, it’s their elegant, tounge teasing and tasty sparkling 2018 Rose Frizant that is so enjoyable right now.
My first Rose Frizant was back in the 90s that came in a sampler case from noted importer Kermit Lynch. I remember buying three of those sampler cases and holding onto the 1990 Gassac red for many years, but I did the same and drank those three bottles of Rose Frizant over a decade, with no real decline. The 2018 has that same potenial, if you dare wait. But based on what I tasted, you really won’t.
While best in its first two years after bottling, much like the Bruendlmayer Brut Rose from Austria, the Gassac Rose is not some gassy pink wine that you just throw back. It’s a serious, fine wine, with class, style, elegance and grace. It’s also a precoscious wine, one that as you take you first sip, you want more, and more, and more.
And like a true Rose from the south of France, the wine is not simply made from red grapes. There’s white varietals in the blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Mourvèdre, Pinot noir, Sauvignon, Petit Manseng et Muscat. It’s the Cabernet that drives the fruit, but the Pinot Noir, Mourvdre and the three white grapes are what give it the style and grace, on par with the best pink colored Champagne around.
That’s why the 2018 Mas de Daumas Gassac Rose Frizant is today’s WineSiders Wine of The Day!!!
