WTN: Coume Del Mas "Quintessence" Banyuls 2003

Went looking for some Banyuls the other day because for some reason it seemed like a terribly important thing to do at the time. (I was at work with some lunch hour time to kill.) I hit the local wine store where they usually have interesting things like Banyuls and Recioto, and stared at the section where the wine guy directed me for some time before finding this wine. The issue was the mod label that looks like it should come from CA rather than the Pyranees. The label just seems wrong for Banyuls, but what's important is what's inside.

So, how is it?

Coume Del Mas "Quintessence" Banyuls 2003
Inky purple with significant bricking on the rim. Huge nose of cotton candy and stewed black fruit. On the palate it's sweet, but there's enough tannic grip and acidity to make it very pleasant. Dark cherries, plums and prunes everywhere. A fair amout of alcoholic heat is evident (17% a.b.v) both on the nose and palate, but overall a very enjoyable dessert on its own or with chocolate or cheese. Drink now, I think this is near its peak.

Score: 89.375

Wow, Banyuls. Am always keen to purchase on my infrequent London visits. Anyhows enjoyed your note but wondered about your drink up comment? Like a true Brit, cellar it for a while.

For those who like a background of the winery in question, see here.....>

http://www.wine-pages.com/guests/contri ... lioure.htm

John, if you have time check cellar-tracker for the Collioure notes. Pages of them so must have a big following eh.

Wow, Banyuls. Am always keen to purchase on my infrequent London visits. Anyhows enjoyed your note but wondered about your drink up comment? Like a true Brit, cellar it for a while.

I guess this could continue to develop- There's certainly enough tannin and alcohol to indicate that it won't fall apart anytime soon. I have way more experience with Ports than I do with Banyuls, so it's quite possible this will develop a lot of secondary characteristics that might be worth waiting for. I liked it enough that I plan to buy more next time I'm in the store, so I will buy some to cellar long term to see how it ages.

Thanks!

John

John, it's good to see a WTN on Banyuls. The best of these Roussillon VDNs (Vin Doux Naturel) can rival Port and deserve to be better known. As well as from Banyuls there are some fine ones coming from Maury and Rivesaltes. (Dry reds - some excellent- coming from the Banyuls area are known as Collioure, a very pretty seaside village.)

Labelling is sometimes confusing because, like with port, there is more than one style.

This one sounds non-oxidative and bottle matured from the note; such wines can be variously labelled "vintage","rimage" or "rimtage". They can be great when young, fruity and tannic in the style which you describe, to such an extent that I have never let any age significantly but I do believe that the best also age well.

The labelling of the oxidative style does not seem to follow any rules (someone correct me if I am wrong); the presence of a vintage date on the label does not indicate one style or the other.

Some of the oxidative wines are matured for a period in large glass containers exposed to sunlight.

Again, like with port, both styles can be delicious. I have had some wonderful Rivesaltes 1959 (oxidative) from Vila. The importer rebottles the wine drawn out of a large glass jar when selling.

On another note, can you explain how you get your score precise to 3 decimal points?

On another note, can you explain how you get your score precise to 3 decimal points?

Perhaps it was a half bottle, otherwise the score would have been 89.750?

John, it's good to see a WTN on Banyuls. The best of these Roussillon VDNs (Vin Doux Naturel) can rival Port and deserve to be better known. As well as from Banyuls there are some fine ones coming from Maury and Rivesaltes. (Dry reds - some excellent- coming from the Banyuls area are known as Collioure, a very pretty seaside village.)

Labelling is sometimes confusing because, like with port, there is more than one style.

This one sounds non-oxidative and bottle matured from the note; such wines can be variously labelled "vintage","rimage" or "rimtage". They can be great when young, fruity and tannic in the style which you describe, to such an extent that I have never let any age significantly but I do believe that the best also age well.

The labelling of the oxidative style does not seem to follow any rules (someone correct me if I am wrong); the presence of a vintage date on the label does not indicate one style or the other.

Some of the oxidative wines are matured for a period in large glass containers exposed to sunlight.

Again, like with port, both styles can be delicious. I have had some wonderful Rivesaltes 1959 (oxidative) from Vila. The importer rebottles the wine drawn out of a large glass jar when selling.

On another note, can you explain how you get your score precise to 3 decimal points?

Tim, thanks for the information, these wines are very scarce in the US, so I seek them out when I can get them locally. (Or when I'm in the Pyranees.) The non-oxidative style is usually more available around here leading to a big surprise for me some years ago when I came across the oxidative suff. Good but not expected.

The score to three decimal places was just a bit of humor based on another thread around here......

John