Mary Taylor Gaillac Perlé
$21.99
Style: Dry White Vintage: 2020 AVB: 13%
Varietals: 80% Mauzac, 20% Muscadelle Appellation: Gaillac
Region: Southwest France Country: France
This ancient winery goes by the name Mas d’Oustry which has been in Nathalie Larroque’s family since 1540. Here, Nathalie and Rémi Larroque tend to old varietals such as Prunel’Art, Fer Servadou (also known as Braucol), Duras, Mauzac and Loin de L'Oeil. The estate makes just 90,000 bottles (10,000 bottles of Gaillac Perlé) and all farming is sustainable, HVE Level 3-Certified. Vines are pruned in the simple guyot method with grass growing in every other row.
The vineyards are planted on a 360-degree hill with the farmhouse on the top, and birds, bunnies, bees, clover grass and fava beans peek out from between the rows. The soil is clay and limestone and most of our wines face south-southeast in the case of the reds and northnortheast for the whites. Planting density is 5,000 vines/HA. Skin maceration takes place for 12 hours at 10°C, followed by a slow fermentation at 18°. At the end, the wine is chilled below 10° to keep its carbon dioxide. That is how it becomes “perlé.” The blend is made at the end of fermentation. It is aged on lees for 2 months then racked, and minimal sulphur is used. This wine is rich and slightly honeyed with a nose of extreme minerals and earth and a balance of raciness and richness on the palate.
Gaillac is the second oldest known vineyard area in France after Narbonne. A vibrant city in its own right, the larger and also ancient city of Albi can be seen from the vineyards. The grand crus of ancient Gaul were once planted here as Gaillac has an ideal climate with the convergence of winds from Mediterranean Africa and the cool Atlantic.
