At A Glance
- Field
- Detail
- Place
- Banyuls-sur-Mer, Pyrénées-Orientales, southeast France, near the Spanish border
- Range
- AOC Collioure, AOC Banyuls, AOC Banyuls Grand Cru, and Banyuls vinegars
- Banyuls grapes
- Grenache noir, Grenache gris, and Carignane
- Named wine
- Banyuls Rimage Mise Précoce
- Defining feature
- Canals called les agulles that are a century old and control erosion
The Producer
Cave De l'Abbé Rous brings together 750 small vignerons farming 1,150 hectares of vineyards. Cellarmaster Jauffrey Canier leads the cellar. Viticulture follows lutte raisonnée. The vineyards are always worked by hand.
Place
Banyuls-sur-Mer has 300+ sunny days a year and lies near the Spanish border. Fierce winds sweep through from the Pyrénées, and winters can bring freezing conditions with much snow. Sun helps grapes ripen, wind increases water loss from leaves, and cold slows vine activity.
The vineyards are steep and terraced, with cultivated soil on sloping ground. Century-old canals called les agulles guide water away from vulnerable soil and control erosion. Most harvesting is done by hand with baskets worn like backpacks. The loads are occasionally placed on mules.
Wines
The range contains AOC Collioure, AOC Banyuls and AOC Banyuls Grand Cru wines, alongside Banyuls vinegars. An AOC ties a wine name to a defined geographic production category. Grand Cru is a higher classification term, while AOC Banyuls Grand Cru appears as its own appellation in the range. Vinegar is a separate product made from Banyuls.
Banyuls Rimage Mise Précoce is a 2017 fortified wine from the Banyuls appellation. Fortification adds spirit during production to raise the finished alcohol level. Banyuls is made from about 50% Grenache noir, about 40% Grenache gris and about 10% Carignane.
Final Word
Toward 1870, Abbé François Rous became a wine merchant and producer of Banyuls wines to finance the enlargement of the parish church. The venture outlived its original purpose and grew into the modern cooperative carrying his name.