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Tasting notes
Deep garnet in colour, with aromas of red and dried fruit, chocolate and roasted coffee. Powerful, rich and long on the palate, with mature dark fruit flavours and chocolate coming to the fore. Pair with chocolate desserts, blue cheeses and dried fruit.
The history of Chapoutier
Chapoutier was established in 1808 and passed from father to son and in the mid-twentieth century Max Chapoutier was at the helm. In 1977 he retired, and responsibility for managing the family business fell to his sons, Michel and Marc. At first little changed, but as time moved on the Chapoutier brothers realised that the world of wine was changing around them; consumers wanted better quality, and they would pay for it. Michel and Marc Chapoutier grabbed the bull by the horns. Marc continued to manage the business and distribution, whereas Michel took on the responsibility for the vineyards and cellar.
The huge shift in quality that came about is largely attributed to Michel. As is the case with many top winemakers Michel Chapoutier believes that great wine is made in the vineyard, not in the cellar, and so it is here that some of the most dramatic changes were made.
Spread out on narrow and steep terraces, the Banyuls Appellation overhangs the Mediterranean sea. More than two thousand years old, the vineyard is rooted in a stony schist soil and benefits from exceptional atmospheric conditions. Moreover, the rare stormy showers which water this exceptional land, still hand worked, are quickly evacuated by a natural (and extremely efficient) drainage system. It is only after fortification, by a technique devised in 1285 by Arnau de Vilanova, which stops the fermentation, that the Banyuls wines get their AOC status.
