Maury is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) for fortified vin doux naturel wines made in the Roussillon wine region of France. Almost all wines are red, made from at least 75% Grenache noir (Garnacha). Other permitted grapes are Grenache blanc, Grenache gris, Macabeu (Macabeo), Malvoisie du Roussillon (Tourbat), Syrah, Muscat and other local varieties. Although the grapes are different, they are used and marketed very much like port. It is made in the communes of Maury, Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet, Lesquerde, Tautavel and Rasiguères. The AOC was granted in 1936.
Maury is a "vin doux naturel" style created by adding fortifying spirits, such as brandy, to the wine in mid-fermentation. This halts the activities of the wine yeast leaving the wine with "natural" residual sugars. 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. The wines may also be aged in wood for up to 15 years. The resulting wines vary in depth and concentration.
In food and wine pairings, Maury is often served as an apéritif or as an accompaniment to foie gras, duck and strong blue cheeses. For dessert, aged Maury, much like Banyuls, is recognized as a suitable pairing for chocolate.
History
Viticulture was likely first introduced to the area by the Ancient Greeks who settled the coast of southern France in 600 BC. Wines from the area were well known by the time of the Romans.
Much of Maury's history is influenced by its location as part of the Roussillon region which was part of the Kingdom of Majorca (and later Crown of Aragon) until 1642, when a revolt against the Spanish crown brought French forces into the region. The 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees officially brought the area under the French crown. However, to this day the mix of Spanish and French influence can be seen in the winemaking style of Maury, which utilizes Spanish grape varieties such a Garnacha/Grenache as well as French Syrah.
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 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. In 1936, the Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité (INAO) established Maury as an officially recognized AOC.
Climate and geography
As part of the Roussillon region the climate of Maury is warm, dry and very Mediterranean influenced. The nearby town of Perpignan is one of the sunniest places in all of France with an average annal temperature of . However Maury's location northwest of Perpignan, in the hilly hinterlands of the Agly valley, does temper some of the Mediterranean influence with westward winds from the Atlantic, bringing a slightly cooler influence to the valley. Similar to the Mistral influence in the Rhône, the dry northward wind Tramontane serves to cool the grapes but is much more gentle and less frequent than the powerful Mistral that can damage the vines.
In the shadow of the remains of the Cathar stronghold Château de Quéribus, the soils of Maury are mix of schist and slate. Closer to the communes of Lesquerde the soil includes more granite, while near the town of Tautavel in the east the soil contains high portions of the argilo-calcaire vineyard soils of clay and limestone.
Winemaking
As a vin doux naturel (or VdN) Maury wines undergo a unique form of winemaking that shares elements with other notable fortified wines like Port, Sherry, Madeira and vin de liqueur. An English translation of the name would be "wines naturally sweet" and refers to the natural residual sugars of the grapes that are left unfermented in the wine. However these sugars are left because of the outside addition of grape spirits (or brandy) added early in the fermentation period that kills the yeast and halts the fermentation process. This process, called mutage leaves a partially fermented must (called the vin muté) with 6 to 12% alcohol from the fermentation and 5-10% alcohol by volume from the brandy. The amount of residual sugar left in the wine will vary from 50 to 125 g/L (5 to 12.5% RS).