Aimé Guibert’s five sons launch a new Languedoc vineyard

he announcement was certainly dramatic but in actual fact the project has been years in the making – “a decade or so”, explains Roman Guibert referring to Atelier Guibert, the new winery launched in Aniane by himself and his brothers. The five of them are the sons of Mas de Daumas Gassac founders, Véronique and Aimé Guibert de la Vaissière.

The brothers chose to launch their new venture in the heart of the Gassac valley, the historic home created at the start of the 1970s by their parents. The new chapter in the family’s history, though, complements Mas de Daumas Gassac and Moulin de Gassac, which the five brothers run jointly. “We looked towards the Mediterranean grape varieties that we were criticised for not using up until now due to the very unique Bordeaux style of Mas de Daumas Gassac”, adds Guibert, referring to Syrah, Cinsault, Carignan, Mourvèdre and Grenache.

Roman, Basile, Samuel, Gaël and Amélien Guibert began joining the family company in 2009 and say they “took on their respective positions at the estate with seamless timing and have continued to meet their customers’ expectations”, since Aimé Guibert passed away in May 2016 at the age of 91.

Three years ago, they established a new logistics and storage facility for their estate wines and Moulin de Gassac negociant wines – investing one million euros – in the heart of their historic valley. It was at this time that the opportunity for creating Atelier Guibert ultimately took shape with a 14-hectare dedicated vineyard. After maturing for four years, the first Syrah label was released at the start of this year. Another label, Genesis – “a light, fruit-forward red with an ABV of 11%” – is currently being bottled. “Other single-vineyard red wines will be rolled out over the course of the year, when we judge that they have reached their peak maturation time”, confirms Basile Guibert.