Maury

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Accessory grape varieties

Terroir

• The geographical zone extends across the heart of a synclinal fold oriented west to east, 17 kilometres long and 3 kilometres wide.
• Two long ridges of uplifted Urgonian limestone, reaching 964 metres to the north and 566 metres to the south, enclose hills formed on black Albian shaly marls where the vineyards are planted.
• The climate is a transitional climate between warm, dry eastern Mediterranean influences (15 °C isotherm) and cooler, wetter western influences (13 °C isotherm), with a mean annual temperature above 14.5 °C and rainfall of between 650 and 700 millimetres distributed across spring and autumn.
• The Tramontane, the dominant wind blowing from the west one day in three, is strongly channelled and accelerated by the corridor-like topography formed by the hills, making it all the more violent.
• The vineyard extends across 4 communes of the Pyrénées-Orientales département and is mainly cultivated between 140 and 350 metres above sea level, on hillside slopes cut through by ravines and on steep escarpments at the foot of the limestone cliffs.

• The earliest official records of a vineyard date back to 1668, with a survey recording 600 hectares of cultivable land, one fifth of which was planted with vines.
• In 1908 the municipal authority required a minimum proportion of 75% Grenache in the grape variety blend, and established the first cooperative cellar as early as 1910.
• The appellation d'origine contrôlée 'Maury' was recognised in 1936 for naturally sweet wines (vins doux naturels), following the creation of the Syndicat de défense du cru Maury in 1933.
• In 2010 the vineyard covered 800 hectares with a production of 20,000 hectolitres divided equally between naturally sweet wines and still red wines, produced by one cooperative cellar and 58 independent cellars.

• The 'grenat' wines, made predominantly from Grenache, are usually produced by mutage sur grains — a practice that gives them a deep purple colour and aromas of red and black fruits with spiced notes.
• The 'tuilé' and 'ambré' wines are aged in tank, foudre, or glass demijohn under oxidative conditions until 1 March of the third year following the harvest, yielding a complex range of aromatic and palate nuances.
• Ageing, building on a fine tannic structure, can impart to the tuilé and ambré wines notes of rancio recalling dried fruits, or hints of roasting.

• The black soils developed on the shaly marls release at night the heat stored during the day, contributing to grape ripeness and offsetting the nocturnal coolness associated with the moderate altitude of the vineyard.
• The surface-weathered and deep-fissured soils on the black shaly marls allow good root penetration and ensure a regular water supply, while the gentle slope of the hills further promotes good drainage of the parcels.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in France

Sources

• Product specification (BO Agri, PDF) — approved 23 novembre 2011, JORF 24 novembre 2011
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — CIVR — Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins du Roussillon