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The entrepreneurial winemaker behind Mas Amiel is Olivier Decelle, who is also the owner of Château Jean Faure, where he produces Grand Cru Classé St Emilion.

Mas Amiel is internationally known for its naturally sweet wines and oxidative wines. Decelle also produces some stunning dry wines that stem from a terroir of calcium shale, gneiss, and mica-schists soils, which allows these southern-accented wines to maintain a great freshness. He even pioneered the adaption of the appellation Maury to include dry wines, which has been important for young winemakers in the region who have gravitated towards this style.

This unique estate sprawls across 220 hectares with 170 hectares under vine. It is located close to the village of Maury in Roussillon, with the Corbières range to the north and the steep foothills of the Pyrénées to the south.

Extreme temperatures, tramontana winds, 260 days of sunshine per year, and rocky schistose soil make the terrain ideal for Grenache and Carignan. Both grape varietals are resistant to wind and drought, and their roots manage to break through the schist, and express strong mineral characteristics in the bottle.

Back in 1816, the bishop of Perpignan used one of his plots of land as a bet in a game of cards. He lost it to civil engineer Raymond Amiel, and this is how Mas Amiel originated. At the time, there were only 10 hectares of vines, and now it has grown to one of the largest estates in the region. After phylloxera ravished the vineyard (and wider France) in 1865, Mas Amiel was replanted. In 1907, the estate was acquired by Charles Dupuy, whose son and grandson continued to develop the vineyard until 1997.

Then came Olivier Decelle in 1999. At the time, he was CEO of Picard Surgelés, a successful frozen food retailer. A chance encounter with legendary wine consultant Jacques Boissenot saw Decelle inspired to venture into winemaking. Jacques assisted Decelle in finding his perfect estate, Mas Amiel, and taught him that the terroir is what makes the wine - people are just there to help the journey.

He now grows and makes the Mas Amiel wines based on observation and experimentation. For his oxidative wines, the wine is fortified, racked and put into demijohns, which are stored outside, exposed to sunlight and the forecast variations for 12 months—a process unique to Maury. After one year, the wine is poured back into 100-year-old casks to mature for 10 or 20 years before bottling.