Gérard Bertrand : Legend Vintage Maury 1929

Characteristics and tasting tips for the Legend Vintage Maury 1929 by Gérard Bertrand

Tasting

Appearance

The appearance displays a clear, bright amber hue, enhanced by light brown caramel highlights, bearing witness to nearly a century of oxidative ageing.

Nose

Intense and remarkably well preserved, the nose reveals aromas of gingerbread, vanilla and cinnamon, alongside subtle notes of blond tobacco, dried fruits and leather. Hints of candied fruit and cherries in eau-de-vie add a gourmet dimension and a surprising freshness for a wine of this age.

Palate

On the palate, this fortified wine charms with its remarkable balance between the sweetness of rock candy and a lingering freshness. The tannins, perfectly mellow, have blended harmoniously into the structure. The finish combines surprising energy and aromatic persistence, with an enveloping sweet warmth. The overall impression is one of harmony, finesse and complexity.

Food and wine pairings

The Legend Vintage Maury 1929 pairs perfectly with Roquefort, whose salty intensity contrasts beautifully with the wine’s sweetness. It also elegantly accompanies dark chocolate desserts or preparations featuring dried fruits. This wine can also be enjoyed on its own, as a wine for contemplation, to fully appreciate its aromatic complexity.

Serving and cellaring

It is recommended to serve the Legend Vintage Maury 1929 at a temperature of around 16°C to optimize the expression of its aromas and its balance on the palate.

A historic fortified wine from Roussillon, bearing witness to a century of winegrowing heritage

The estate

Gérard Bertrand is today one of the most influential figures in winegrowing in the south of France. At the head of an estate comprising sixteen châteaux and properties across the Languedoc, he has converted more than 930 hectares to Demeter-certified biodynamic viticulture, becoming the world’s leading producer of biodynamic wines. A former professional rugby player, he took over the family estate in 1987, founded in 1920 by his great-grandmother Paule Bertrand in the Corbières. Visionary and passionate, Gérard Bertrand has profoundly transformed the reputation of Languedoc wines on the international stage, while developing a collection of rare historic wines, Legend Vintage, which preserves the region’s winegrowing heritage.

The vineyard

Maury is an appellation of Roussillon located in the Pyrénées-Orientales, characterized by black schist and marl soils deposited during the Secondary era. These distinctive terroirs extend over around eleven hundred hectares spread across 86 communes. The dark schists absorb the sun’s warmth during the day and release it at night, promoting sugar concentration and optimal grape ripening. This distinctive geology, combined with the Mediterranean climate, gives Maury wines their unique character and remarkable ageing potential.

The vintage

The 1929 vintage was produced in a particular historical context, a few months before the onset of the Great Depression. Viticultural conditions that year were favorable in the Maury area, with sufficient humidity during the growing season and warm, dry conditions at harvest, allowing optimal sugar concentration and the development of ripe, complex aromatic profiles.

Winemaking and ageing

This Legend Vintage Maury 1929 was crafted according to the traditional method of mutage, characteristic of vins doux naturels. After harvesting grapes at optimal ripeness, fermentation of the must is stopped by the addition of grape eau-de-vie, preserving natural sugars while increasing the alcohol level. An extended maceration of around three weeks made it possible to extract anthocyanins, tannins and aromatic compounds. Nearly a century of ageing then allowed the wine to develop its exceptional complexity through slow oxidation processes and the integration of aromatic compounds.

Grape varieties

Grenache noir, macabeu, grenache gris