An outsider gatecrashes the grand cru party – what a delight!

Or how a wine from the south of France ends up with first place at a grand crus classés tasting event.

A study on luxury, a blind tasting, a selection of grands crus classés and a highly esteemed Master of Wine: the story could have ended here, if Philip Schwander, the said Master of Wine and reputable wine merchant in Switzerland, had not sneaked in an uninvited guest. A “small” wine from the south of France, subjectively picked out, entered the big league in a blind tasting contest whose sole objective was to taste French-style luxury.

The Bilanz Tasting

Last October, the Swiss Alemmanic magazine Bilanz undertook an extensive investigation into luxury. Prestigious French wines have a pride of place in the temple of taste; they have passion and style. Did Philipp Schwander, mandated by the Bilanz to organize a great wine tasting, want to shake these beliefs? Certainly not… When he mixed up a Pétrus 1999, Château Margaux 2004, a La Tour Figeac 2001, a Cheval Blanc 2001, two Austrian wines and a wine from the south of France, hiding the labels, he could not have guessed that the tasters (non professional but passionate wine connoisseurs) would prefer the modest challenger.

Among the most reputable wines, Mas Gabinèle Rarissime red 2006 from the Appellation Controlée Faugères, wins first place.

Every professional wine taster knows that a tasting is always a combination of random factors, the result of encounters between different sensory faculties at a particular moment; of external sensory conditions that are never completely neutral… For these reasons, the Bilanz tasting cannot be considered as THE truth but as an EXPERIENCE. An experience that warrants taking a special interest in a “small wine” from the south of France. A “small wine” which has the makings of a great one. Is luxury not simply… pleasure?

Mas Gabinèle Rarissime red 2006

This wine is made from Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre grapes varieties, on sandstone schist soil, with low yields that never exceed 15hl/ha. Thierry Rodriguez, the wine-maker, vinifies the wine in the same manner as other grands crus : slow and soft macerations under high temperatures, and ageing exclusively in new barrels from 16 to 18 months.

Information on the Estate and Thierry Rodriguez wines:

Mas Gabinèle
1 hameau de Veyran
34490 Causses et Veyran – FRANCE
Tel : + 33 (0) 4 67 89 71 72
Fax : +33 (0)4 67 89 70 69

www.masgabinele.com