Domaine Cabirau Maury Sec ‘First Things First’
WHY WE LOVE IT
- “First Things First” is a powerful, rich, and elegant Maury Sec (dry red) from France’s Languedoc-Roussillon.
- It comes from vineyards in the village of Maury, whose distinctive terroir is defined by steep, fragmented brown schist slopes.
- It is a full-bodied, well-structured wine that is currently at its peak, though it can still last for a few more years under proper storage conditions.
Varietal Composition: 60% Grenache, 22% Carignan and 18% Syrah
Elaboration: This wine is made from a “parcel selection,” using grapes from high-quality vineyard plots. Due to a cellar equipment breakdown, 25% of the grapes were harvested a week late, which enhanced their weight and fruitiness. The wine then aged for nearly two years in large oak casks (foudres), adding elegance and polish.
Tasting Notes: The wine boasts a bouquet of black raspberries, dried flowers, spices, and hints of garrigue, along with earthy notes of graphite. On the palate, it is rich and concentrated with flavors of black cherry, plum, and cassis, balanced by baking spices. It has a medium to full body, fine tannins for a silky texture, and a long finish, maintaining a good balance of richness and acidity.
PRESS
2015 – 94 Jeb Dunnuck | 92 Wine Advocate
PRODUCER BACKGROUND
From 1980-2007, importer Dan Kravitz sold OPW (other people’s wine). In ’07 he took the plunge and bought 13.5 acres of Grenache vineyards in Roussillon, the French part of Catalonia. The vineyard is 20 miles inland from the Mediterranean and 20 miles north of Spain. Ten acres were 20 years old, the rest 60. The name “Cabirau” has been on the plat map for 100 years. The vines were planted on steep slopes of schist, dark sharp rock that gives a distinctive mineral character to Grenache, different from the earthiness of Cotes du Rhone planted on flat vineyards of smooth white river stones.
Fast forward to 2018. There are now 23 acres (15.2 Grenache, 1.5 Syrah, 3.6 Carignan, 2.4 Macabeu) in the village of Maury, previously known for dessert wines. There have always been two bottlings. As the increasingly prestigious Roussillon Appellation requires at least 3 varietals, the first bottlings were IGP Grenache. Today the basic bottling is Roussillon, a blend of 70% Grenache, with Syrah and Carignan. The flagship bottling uses the new Appellation “Maury Sec”. Based on old vine Grenache, it also incorporates Syrah and Carignan.
In 2008 Dan became the first American member of La Tautavelloise, a progressive Cooperative in a village adjoining Maury. The next year the two Cooperatives of Tautavel merged with one in Vingrau to form VTV (Les Vignerons de Tautavel Vingrau). Dan’s Cabirau has become the ambassador for the quality-obsessed team at VTV, with sales throughout Europe as well as the U.S., and soon (knock on wood) Asia.