A Languedoc white for fish. Sun, sea and Mediterranean herbs.

Jean-Claude Mas and old world wine with new world attitude

Jean-Claude Mas was born on a Languedoc farm. His great-grandfather was a butcher with nine hectares of vines, and the family kept growing grapes. Until the 1980s, he explains, local wine was an everyday necessity, not a pleasure or an export. His family even pushed him towards office work, because life in the vineyards was so hard.

He came back after seeing the world and racing cars and motorcycles, and learned much about wine from his Italian mentor, Giorgio Grai. When he started his own company around 2000, New World wines were taking markets from France. His answer was old world wine with a new world attitude, and competition, he says, forced everyone to get better in the vineyard and the cellar.

A white blend built on ripeness

The wine he brings is Château Paul Mas Belluguette Blanc, a blend of Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, Vermentino and Viognier. Jean-Claude explains that Roussanne gives tropical notes and Viognier peach and apricot, while he plays with the ripeness of each grape and with fermentation. Unusually, part of the wine, including the Viognier, goes through full malolactic fermentation.

Andreas finds a golden wine with green tints, nuanced complexity and well-kept freshness. Jean-Claude works organically, uses essential oils to protect his vines and follows several biodynamic principles. He grows some 45 grape varieties and also pours a ripe Cabernet Sauvignon, one of his personal challenges in the region.

Sea bass in a salt crust with vongole broth

For the white, Andreas stuffs a Mediterranean sea bass with herbs and lemon and bakes it whole in a crust of salt, egg white and water. The sauce is a clear vongole broth with olive oil, white wine, lemon zest, onion and garlic, blended with parsley, chervil, coriander and tarragon, plus a little butter for texture.

Andreas also explains the name: loup is the French word for sea bass from the Mediterranean, while bar is the same fish from the Atlantic. Before pouring, Jean-Claude rinses each glass with a little wine, a habit from his mentor, so you smell the wine and not the glass.

Salt-crust baking looks complicated but is easy: the fish cooks whole and keeps its moisture, so you never worry about overcooking. For the pairing, Andreas avoids anything too unctuous. The wine is bold and tropical, so glossy fish, the umami of the clams, fresh herbs and a sprinkle of lemon balance its rounded acidity.

Classic Languedoc pairings

Jean-Claude shares the region's own matches. The Languedoc is good at stuffed vegetables, which suit light whites and rosés. Reds from the hillsides go with lamb, and Andreas adds that a herb crust echoes the garrigue, the wild thyme and rosemary that scent the countryside.

From the port of Sète comes a dish of squid cooked with tomato, shallots and white wine, traditionally served with local whites such as Vermentino, Grenache Blanc and Picpoul. Andreas and Jean-Claude also talk about Italy's influence on the region, from the canals of Sète to the dried lake beds behind the estate. The episode also shows an unusual sight near Carcassonne: vineyards flooded twice a year to keep salt deep in the soil.

The mystery bottle from Jean-Claude

Jean-Claude's blind wine comes from a region he says knows how to play with grape varieties, a nod to his own approach. Andreas finds black cherry, blackcurrant, tobacco, sage and a hint of oak, and turns chicken livers, pancetta, grappa and cream into a rustic stew with pasta. Watch to find out how close he gets to naming the wine, and how Jean-Claude does on the wall of fame.