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About the Wine
An utterly thrilling wine and the epitome of the beguiling, almost unfathomable potential that these humble-in-youth wines have to age. 100% Carignan, now with over two decades in the bottle, it has slowly transformed into something quite astonishing.
A good friend of ours once remarked "It's like Mazel wines are meant to be old" - it makes a lot of sense when you get the chance to see how they evolve. There's something about the way the generous, youthful fruitiness falls away to reveal an impressively chiselled framework that has formed under the surface. And whilst certain Mazel vintages can be a little wild and unruly in their early years, this is giving nothing short of classic, old school Rhône.
Wines from this era still began as whole bunch carbonic, but after fermentation were aged for two years in old oak, something the Oustrics do not do these days. Absolutely no additions at any stage, as always. The way the barrel notes now fully mesh with the developed qualities of the wine is pure harmony. A keen wire of acid cuts it all through, providing all the signs the contents of this bottle are still well and truly alive. A revelation!
About Le Mazel
Gérald Oustric is one of a certain generation of winemakers whom experienced a shared epiphany after meeting with Marcel Lapierre during the 80s. At the time he was working the family vineyards in Valvignères, a village in the south of the Ardèche, alongside his father. Each vintage all of the fruit was sold to the local co-operative. It was after this fateful meeting with Lapierre that Gerald realised there was another way to tend the vines and turn the resulting grapes into wine, and by the late 90s he had pulled out of the co-op, converted the domaine to certified organic and, in the wake of the infamous ‘gang of four’ that had inspired him, began to realise his vision of making wine with no additions at all. He joined forces with his sister Jocelyne, and Le Mazel was born.
Over 20 years later they now farm 19 hectares, with a portion leased out to any number of the other emergent winemakers in the region. Gérald is well-regarded for being the guiding force in helping many of these younger producers get set up by selling them grapes, loaning out vineyards, lending them equipment or letting them make their wine in his cellars. There is a healthy, collaborative spirit in the air around these parts but, ever-humble, Gérald's work is often seen after the likes of Anders Frederik Steen, Sylvain Bock, Daniel Sage and Andrea Calek, all of whom he has lent a helping hand to along the way.
The wines themselves are vital, wild-edged and nourishing, and clearly speak of the mistral-swept valley from which they hail. Mazel are notorious for embracing the annual variations that can occur when making wine without heavy manipulations or additions, and as such his staple of regular cuvées can express themselves completely differently from year to year. Each vintage is a new part of a bigger story.