The appellation is located as an enclave in the north of the Côtes du Roussillon-Villages area in the Roussillon wine region. The area extends along the southern slopes of the Massif des Corbières within the four communes of St.-Paul-de-Fenouillet, Maury, Tautavel and Rasiguères. The vineyards, mostly terraced, cover 560 hectares of vineyards on brown slate soil. Maury is best known for its sweet, spritzy vin doux naturel (similar to a port wine). A maximum of 10% alcohol in the form of eau-de-vie may be added to the sprit, the residual sugar content must be at least 45 g/l, the alcohol content at least 15% vol. The art of this type of vinification goes back to the scholar Arnaldus de Villanova (1240-1311), who perfected the techniques of distillation and stopping fermentation with alcohol.
The red wine varieties Grenache Noir(Garnacha Tinta) with at least 75%, Carignan Noir(Monastrell), Macabeo, Syrah and Lladoner Pelud(Garnacha Peluda), as well as the white wine varieties Grenache Blanc(Garnacha Blanca), Grenache Gris(Garnacha Roja), Muscat Blanc, Muscat d'Alexandrie and Malvoisie du Roussillon(Torbato) are permitted. There are the colour designations grenat(garnet red), ambré(amber) and tuilé(brick red). The wines are aged in 30-litre glass balloons(Dame-Jeanne) and/or wooden barrels. The designation rancio applies to oxidatively aged wines that mature in oak barrels exposed to sunlight. This gives them the typical rustic rancio taste (rancid). The designation hors d'âge applies to wines matured for at least five years. All combinations are possible, such as AOC Maury ambré rancio hors d'âge.
Since 2012, there is also an appellation for dry still wines (Vin tranquille), which are produced from the same varieties as the VDN wines. The dry red wines are called Maury rouge and were until then marketed as Côtes du Roussillon Villages. The dry white wines are called Maury blanc.
Well known producers are Cave Desiré Estève, Cave Jean-Louis Lafage, Cave de Maury, Château Saint-Roch, Domaine Calvet-Thunevin, Domaine Mas Amiel, Domaine de la Coume du Roy, Domaine Lafage, Domaine Maurydoré and Domaine Pouderoux. Other Roussilon-VDN are Banyuls, Muscat de Rivesaltes and Rivesaltes.
Picture: From BlueBreezeWiki - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
