Maury AOC
[3][4][5] Maury is a "vin doux naturel" style created by adding fortifying spirits, such as brandy, to the wine in mid-fermentation.
Maury is vinified in a manner similar to port, but initial aging is often conducted in large 25 liter (6.6 US gallon/5.5 imperial gallon) glass jugs known as bonbonnes, les dames jeannes or demi-johns.
[6] In food and wine pairings, Maury is often served as an apéritif or as an accompaniment to foie gras, duck and strong blue cheeses.
[3] The style of winemaking that would become associated with Maury has its roots in the work of the Catalan alchemist and physician Arnaldus de Villa Nova.
He perfected the technique of stopping fermentation with distilled alcohol in the late 13th century[7] and was given an exclusive patent on the process by King James II of Majorca.
In 1872, Roussillo politician François Aragon convinced the French government to legally recognize the style of vin doux naturels as wines which had residual sugar and sweetness retained from having their fermentation stopped with grape spirits.
[3] In the shadow of the remains of the Cathar stronghold Château de Quéribus, the soils of Maury are a mix of schist and slate.
But most of the distinctive character of Maury come from the aging process that can take place in a wide range of containers (from concrete and oak barrels to glass bonbonnes) kept in a variety of conditions (including out in the sun for deliberate oxidation) for a number of years depending the particular house style of the winemaker.
[6] One style of Maury known as rancio is produced when the wine is racked into clear glass demi-johns or bonbonne and left out in the summer sun to oxidize and age.
This deposit is allowed to stay in the bonbonne to influence the colour and flavour of resulting vintages of wine that are aged in the container.
[2] Grapes destined for AOC wine production in Maury are limited to a harvest yield no greater than 30 hectoliters/hectares (approximately 1.6 tons/acre).
When the fortified spirits is added is not specifically regulated but the finished wine must have a minimum alcohol level of at least 15%.
[8] Non-fortified table wines produced in the southern reaches of Maury AOC along the Agly valley have been previously eligible for the Côtes du Roussillon-Villages AOC or to be sold as a vin de pays under the Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes designation.
[6] For the 2011 vintage, a new AOC designation of Maury Sec was introduced to allow for dry table wines produced from the same grape varieties permitted for the vin doux naturel.
In recent years, smaller estates experimenting with new winemaking and aging techniques have garnered the attentions of wine writers and critics.
[3] Coates also states that similar to Banyuls, Maury wines are often ready to drink soon after they're bottled and do not benefit much from any further aging in the cellar.
