BANYULS DOUX 2020 (Domaine de la Tour Vieille)

DESCRIPTION

The BANYULS DOUX BLANC wine is a 'vin doux naturel' made from Grenache Blanc and Grenache Gris in equal proportions.
The Banuyls designation specifications impose a yield of 30 hl/ha for the production of those fortified white wines.

TERROIR

The soils that make up the Domaine La Tour Vieille vineyard are among the oldest terroirs in Europe, since their formation dates back to the primary era, and more precisely a period ranging from the Ediacaran (-635 to -540 My) to the Cambrian (-540 to -488 My).
The rocks of the Collioure and Banuyls vineyards are of the metasedimentary type, i.e. a sedimentary rock formed by sediments deposition and solidification, then subjected to an increase in temperature and pressure during tectonic movements which will create modifications in its mineral composition as well as its structure.

The terroir on which the vines are planted dates from the Cambrian period and, compared to the Collioure terroir, it marks a break in sedimentation conditions with disappearance of the volcanic component and appearance of pelites, i.e. sedimentary rocks that have evolved in a lacustrine or marine environment.
They are called the série de Jujols, which shows a lower metamorphism than the série de Canaveilles (Collioure terroir).

WINEGROWING & WINEMAKING

The Côte Vermeille vineyard is organised on terraces and requires exclusively manual and susta
inable winegrowing works as it limits the interventions in the vineyard.
The low rainfall, the sunshine and the tramontana wind are the major assets of the region which allow the estate to obtain grapes of an excellent sanitary quality without having to use synthetic phytosanitary products.
The vines are therefore cared for and treated in accordance with the Organic Agriculture specifications, even if the estate is not officially certified by Ecocert.

The grapes are harvested by hand in successive sortings and cooled once they arrive at the winery, before being pressed by direct pressing. The must is poured into stainless steel vats where alcoholic fermentation takes place until the mutage operation, which consists of adding to the must a neutral alcohol of at least 96% vol. within the limit, evaluated in pure alcohol, of minimum 5% and maximum 10% of the concerned must volume. This operation has the effect of stopping the fermentation by killing the fermenting yeasts.

The must is then racked into vats for further maturation and lightly filtered before bottling.