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Our greatest achievement: working together
Samuel Guibert, head winemaker at Mas de Daumas Gassac, believes the estate’s greatest achievement is the Guibert brothers’ ability to both live and work together.
Following the death of his father and acclaimed founder of Mas de Daumas Gassac, Aimé Guibert, last year, Samuel along with brothers Gaël, Roman and Basile have taken on the running of the Languedoc estate, having worked at the Domaine since 2000.
Speaking to db, Samuel recalls how the 2015 vintage was a “sell-out” with consumers wanting to purchase Aimé’s final wine.
Since then, the Guibert brothers have continued their father’s ground-breaking work but, according to Samuel, with more of a focus on elegance, freshness and “immediate drinkability” in their wines, rather than the more “chewy,” tannic style popular in his father’s era.
Samuel has also been responsible for reducing levels of sulphur dioxide in the estate’s wine by a third, while Gaël introduced horse ploughing on the estate’s best vineyards.
He told db: “I didn’t do it to fit into the ‘natural wine’ category, I care about the way the wine is made. It is the same as when my parents went organic, they did it because they cared – it wasn’t a sales technique.”
However, it is the brotherly camaraderie that Samuel feels most encapsulates the spirit of the estate.
“We each have different responsibilities in the running of the estate. Working and living together can be challenging, but the fact we manage to do it and not kill each other is our greatest achievement!”
Samuel will be attending this year’s Real Wine Fair, proudly telling db that as one of the founders, he has been to every show, even in the year that the Icelandic volcano grounded flights “and only 12 winemakers were there!”
He is hoping to draw attention to the vibrancy of the 2016 whites that have more acidity and less residual sugar than previous years.
Older vintages will also be on pour, as well as reds that Samuel believes are “continuing to evolve towards elegance” and, while having ageing ability, are also accessible in their youth.
“Going to the Real Wine Fair is like going to see friends,” he concluded. The Real Wine Fair takes place on 7-8 May at London’s Tobacco Dock.