Collioure is the AOC for dry wines that come from the same tiny corner of Mediterranean Roussillon as Banyuls. In fact, Dr. André Parcé, Mayor of Banyuls, research chemist, and groundbreaking winemaker/owner of Domaine du Mas Blanc, campaigned for making Collioure its own appellation in 1971. Banyuls is the AOC for the delightful, if strangely made, sweet fortified reds from Mourvedre, Syrah, Grenache and Counoise . . . think of Banyuls as Madeira’s good looking redneck cousin. For the same reason that the area is perfect for Banyuls: it can produce exceptional, and exceptionally powerful still wine from ripe Mourvedre, Syrah, Grenache and Counoise that manage to maintain their acid and tannins because of the cooling influence of the Mediterranean.  (click here to see a map of Roussillon)

Jean-Michel Parcé, Dr. Parcé’s son, has been responsible for the winemaking since 1977, and took over the entire estate upon his father’s passing in 1997. The estate consists of about 20 hectares of vines, planted on terraces of schist rising above the Mediterranean. Baked by dry sun in the summer, but mitigated by tramontane and mistral winds and the Mediterranean, the vines range in age from 30 to over 70 years old, and are farmed organically. The wines are bottled without fining or filtration.

This wine represents a true field blend: the 2.5 hectare vineyard, which is 900 meters from the sea, is planted to 60% Syrah, 30% Mourvedre and 10% Grenache, which is harvest and handled together. Upon harvesting, the grapes are destemmed, and then trodden by foot. They macerate on the skins for 15 days in temperature controlled tanks, and are removed to 3 year old barrels, where the wine ages for 12 months, after the fermentation is complete. 950 cases were made.

This wine exhibits a nearly magical combination of fruit, mineral, spice, and heady, meaty aromas and flavors, but it is the texture that sets it apart: powerful and rich, but with a freshness and lightness that are rare even in lighter wines, and powerful, but incredibly smooth tannins that are the result of the food trodding (the souls of our feet have the perfect amount of cushion to extract the most from the skins without crushing the tiny, brittle pips). Try this with duck, roast lamb, any game bird. Drink now – 2018

photos on this page by Stuart B. Cooper