2020
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Banyuls - by the Mediterranean, near the Spanish border
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| Full-bodied fortified red, aged in vat |
100% Grenache Noir - vines up to 45 years old
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17.0%
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Strong cheeses, patés, rich fruit cakes and puddings (including chocolate), dried fruits - it's versatile!
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Lasts for weeks, once opened
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Excellent now, or will age to 2030 and beyond
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| A young vintage Banyuls, known as "Rimage". 100% Grenache Noir, made by the "mutage sur grains" method - the process of halting the fermentation by the addition of grape brandy, resulting in a certain amount of residual sugar (in this case 95 grams per litre). Bright, limpid, blood/cherry red colour. Considerably complex for a young, early-bottled vintage Banyuls, with a combination of fresh red cherry, raspberry and bramble, dried fig and orange, and myriad tertiary notes including leather, damp earth, molasses and eau de vie. The palate is lusciously rich, yet both sweet and sour, with ripe bramble, red cherry and seville orange flavours, a modicum of salty minerality and underlying notes of bitter dark chocolate, mocha and toffee. The tannins are meltingly ripe and the acidity is mouth-wateringly refreshing. The overall result is a really quite wonderful, rounded, complete wine, with an endless, tangy-fruity-savoury finish. In all honesty, it requires no further ageing, although it will last an eternity (or at least decades) and may even evolve into something even more wonderful. That said, only a masochist would wait......... |
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