Banyuls grand cru

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Accessory grape varieties

Terroir

• The vineyard extends across steep slopes where altitude drops very rapidly from 917 metres at the Pic de Sailfort to sea level at the coast.
• The geographical zone covers the territory of 4 communes in the département of Pyrénées-Orientales, in the area known as the 'Côte Vermeille': Banyuls-sur-Mer, Collioure, Cerbère and Port-Vendres.
• The geological substratum is homogeneous, consisting essentially of beds of brown Cambrian schist, vertically structured and highly fractured, giving rise to poor soils with low water-retention capacity.
• Parcels are cultivated on terraces up to 400 metres in altitude, very locally in valley bottoms drained by watercourses such as the Baillaury, the Cosprons, the Douy and the Ravaner.
• The zone benefits from annual sunshine exceeding 2,600 hours, a mean temperature of 15°C and mean annual rainfall below 650 millimetres, with alternating summer drought and heavy rainfall in spring and autumn.
• Wind blows for nearly 200 days a year, including the Tramontane, the dominant north-westerly wind that blows for 130 days a year; violent and desiccating, it is beneficial against fungal diseases but can sometimes damage young shoots.

• The practice of the 'bail à complant', or 'souche morte' tenancy, whose origins predate the year 1000, persists in the Banyuls vineyard for more than 50% of vine parcels.
• The appellation d'origine contrôlée 'Banyuls grand cru', recognised by decree of 16 November 1962, is reserved for red naturally sweet wines (vins doux naturels) made with at least 75% Grenache in the holding's grape variety blend.
• The production rules for the Banyuls grand cru appellation, introduced on the initiative of Dr André Parcé, require ageing to continue at least until 1 June of the third year following the harvest year.

• After ageing, the tile-red mahogany-coloured robe is accompanied by a complex bouquet often combining notes of cocoa, candied fruit and spice.
• Depending on the conditions and duration of ageing, the wines may develop the 'rancio' character, evoking roasting, dried fruits and particularly walnut.
• Production by mutage sur grains — arresting fermentation by adding spirit directly to the grape solids — ensures maximum extraction of aromatic precursors, anthocyanins and tannins, yielding at the end of fermentation a deep colour and tannic structure that guarantees suitability for ageing and long keeping.

• Ageing of at least 30 months in wood allows the tannins derived from maceration to refine and the aromas to grow in complexity, promoting finesse and a fine volume with fine-grained tannins.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in France

Sources

• Product specification (BO Agri, PDF)
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — CIVR — Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins du Roussillon