Got back an hour ago from a week-long visit to Barça and on the way back I drove way up the french catalan hills near Perpignan, ended up going past Maury to the legendary Preceptorie de Centernach, in the minuscule town absurdly rebaptized by the post-revolutionary language police as Saint Arnac (I did not make it up).
With Joseph Parcé (Marc's son) in the cellar and Silvio Marocchino in the vines, plus Aurélie (whose name is featured on a great Maury) taking care of business, this is a nice operation situated in a magical place that feels as remote as Siberia, but is in fact within a half hour of Perpignan. These steep hills are covered in very old vines with gigantic rootstocks that have survived several decades of the tramontane wind, the local answer to the Mistral.
At the Preceptorie, barriques and demi-muids are mostly kept in the cement vats once used by the local cooperative and now transformed into a cool cellar within the chai. Vats here are mostly resin, Joseph explains that apart from costing less than stainless, they allow you to see the grapes through the vat, and you can tell the level of the lees and the thickness of the cap. They keep you in touch with the primordial stuff.
Tasted from the barrel (I shall taste these more calmly at home from bottles):
Several barrels that will end up in the 08 Côtes du Roussillon Coume Marie white (North of Maury) and the 08 Terres Nouvelles white from the higher western parcels planted on schists, including pure grenache blanc, grenache gris. For the Vin de Pays, a (not) surprisingly beautifully acid white carignan (their answer to adding tartaric acid), and some macabeu, another grape that, much like carignan, can be a high yielder, but when cut back and kept under control can give nice fresh tangy wines.
Also tasted some.. Marsanne, Roussane and Vermentino, yes the appellation has decreed that you need 20% of one of these in the bottle; the Preceptorie grudgingly abides, and ends up making something very fine with this combination of not-so-traditional grapes for the area.
For all the whites, these guys manage to get balanced wines with none of the heaviness of most southern whites, one of the secrets is... harvesting in mid august, 3-4 weeks before most other producers.
Tasted a couple of vats of rosé, the Coume Marie, grenache syrah carignan with lots of structure and perfume, and the Zoe Vin de Pays, with its ever so slight hint of candy, I would have never imagined that flavour came from muscat, a grape I usually have a hard time with.
Maury Cuvée Aurélie 07 is superb, sharp grenache with some carignan from schist terroir, tannins are much more present than sugar or alcohol, very nice.
2007 was a year for the special Maury TH, only made in certain years, pure grenache picked younger and with longer barrel aging, out of the vat it seems very persistent and smooth. A nearby container of Weiss chocolate tempted me, but my daughter Alessa opined that wine would certainly ruin the chocolate... :-)
All these wines range from 11€ to 20€, so you are getting a real bargain for some top flight wines. I filled the free spaces in the trunk of the car with a few cases.
As I travel to Catalunya often, next on my list of visits are Clos des Fées and Domaine de la Rectorie.
cheers
Mike