Tuesdays With Maury

Maury isn’t the first wine most people think of when they’re checking out the French Reds section of a wine list or the liquor store.

So, what is it?!

Maury is a region in Roussillon, in the far South of France—just off the Mediterranean Sea. Historically known for its fortified sweet wines, in 2012, Maury became an appellation (protected area) for dry red wines too. Dry red Maury wines are usually a Grenache blend. This one is 65% Grenache and 35% Syrah.

Château Saint-Roch uses grapes from old vines for their Kerbuccio Maury Sec, and ages them for 18 months in French oak barrels. Their vineyards are surrounded by blackberry bushes, fig trees, and cherry trees, along with fields of thyme, lavender, and fennel. You can undoubtedly smell and taste the influence of all those fruits and herbs in the glass. This wine has a dark-ruby/violet color with a gorgeous nose. It’s silky smooth, with slightly chalky, but really well-integrated, tannins.

This Maury is medium to full bodied with flavors of game and spice that would be the perfect match for lamb burgers, or a tagine, or any meat you’re barbecuing. We had it with a garam-masala based chickpea curry and it was terrific.

It’s $22.99 on wine.com, if you’re shipping it to the West Coast, and gets 93 points from James Suckling and 92 points from Robert Parker.

Chin!