The iconic Jean-Claude Mas: To produce wines that make you dream
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John Griffin connects with Jean-Claude Mas and they quickly cover a variety of topics in this short interview episode.
Born into a long line of Languedoc grape growers, Jean-Claude Mas became the first in his family to emerge as a formally-trained winemaker. His initial memory of wine came when he was three-years-old, defiantly escaping his Mother\\u2019s watch to run two miles into the countryside to meet his grandfather in the vineyard (!!!) during harvest.
From that point forward it was game on.
As a young man, Jean-Claude went about creating Domaine Paul Mas in 2000 using the family\\u2019s existing 86 acres of holdings. In short time he began to purchase underpriced but strategically situated Domaines throughout the region, in the process turning their vineyards and cellars into well-known regional standouts.
Fast forward twenty years and Jean-Claude is operating 15 separate chateaux and domaines \\u2013 A diverse collection of terroirs spanning the kaleidoscope of topographies that makes Languedoc-Roussillon one of Europe\\u2019s most dynamic regional appellations: From mountainside terraces in Limoux used for some of the best sparkling wines you\\u2019ll find in France outside of Champagne, to salty coastal plots of Picpoul destined for local shellfish consumption, to vineyards set atop clay plateaux producing pale Grenache-driven examples of ros\\xe9 and vin gris, to moonscape settings near the Spanish border responsible for intense examples of both dry and fortified Carignan.
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