A ‘secondary’ French wine

Although in recent years there has been a growing interest in France’s ‘secondary’ wines, Roussillon reds have remained in the shadows. The area is the last costal stretch of France on the Mediterranean going towards Spain and Collioure is a small tourist port were the vineyards are a stone’s throw from the sea. The pitch of the land is steep, the soil is dark and schistose, the vines are alberello-trained and are mostly Grenache, Mourvedre, Carignan and Syrah. Production is disciplined and no more than 40hl per hectare of this extraordinarily pleasing red is made.

Collioure is a dry twin of Banyuls (a French ‘Port’ named after the town just to the south) and is made in the same area. With aging this wine takes on musky notes.

I tasted this at the stand of the wine’s Italian importer, Cuzziol, during the last Vinitaly and decided then and there to visit the area next summer.

Per quanto mi riguarda, l’assaggio avvenuto presso lo stand di Cuzziol, importatore italiano, all’ultimo Vinitaly, mi ha convinto ad eleggere questa zona a meta delle prossime vacanze estive.

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