Roussillon is a small, well-established, unpretentious, yet high class wine appellation in the South of France located within the greater Pyrénées-Orientales area, bordering Catalonia, Spain. It’s often bundled together with Languedoc as Languedoc-Roussillon due to their proximity to each other, but they actually have quite different characters. The area of Roussillon has quite the Spanish vibe thanks to its south westerly location down by the Pyrenees mountains. If you’ve ever visited Perpignan, you’ve been to the heart of Roussillon.
In the past, the still reds and whites have been pretty decent but were certainly not going to set the world on fire, whereas their special sweet wines, the ‘vins doux naturels’ (fortified sweet wines), have often taken centre stage. Vins Doux Naturels remain emblematic of Roussillon’s viticultural heritage and winemaking know-how but the dry, still, wines (be they red, rosé or white), are anything but ordinary nowadays.
The VDNs, as the sweet wines are abbreviated to, are made a bit like Port, where fermentation is stopped by the addition of neutral grape spirit before all the sugar has been fermented out, leaving a viscous, sweet wine with an ABV of around 16.5%. The key types of Vins Doux Naturels are Banyuls AOP, Banyuls Grand Cru AOP, Maury AOP, Muscat de Rivesaltes AOPs and Rivesaltes AOP, many of which can have various age statements and subtle variations to style including a hint of nutty ‘rancio’ derived from extended ageing in cement tanks, wood casks or even glass demijohns.
Banyuls and Maury are particularly famous, not just for their quality, but for the fact that they really are the greatest go-to style of wine to have with chocolate!
Four Roussillon Wines to Try
Bila Haut Blanc, M. Chapoutier, Côtes-du-Roussillon 2021
Aromatic and citrus-smoky on the nose and round on the palate, with fruit, aromatics and a saline minerality. Made with Grenache Blanc, Grenache Gris and Macabeu grapes from the steep, craggy limestone, arid soil, battered by the tramontane wind.
Find it for £12.68 at Laithwaites
Lafage Muscat de Rivesaltes 2020 (50cl, 15%)
Intense, grapey nose with fresh pear, apricot and lychee aromas. Powerful and well-balanced , refreshing citrus with notes of fresh lemon and icing.
Find it for £12. 98 at Vinatis.co.uk
Banyuls & Maury
The highly-prized wines of Banyuls are made from almost shrivelled, ripe to bursting, red Grenache grapes. The colour and style of Banyuls can differ hugely depending on how it is made and aged, varying from fruity, light red wines to nutty, funky, treacley brown wines. Banyuls also have Grand Cru wines, which have to see at least two and half years of ageing. Maury wines on the other hand are usually darker in colour with tangy, dark berry notes although they do sometimes come in more pink and tawny styles too. This difference in style is attributed largely to its more inland location than Banyuls.
Lafage Maury Grenat 2020, Maury, 50cl, 15%
A deliciously sweet, red dessert wine that’s full-bodied and rich, with intense flavours and aromas of dried red fruits, chocolate and coffee beans. A must with with chocolate.
Find it for. £14.75 - Vinvm and £14.29 at All About Wine
Gérard Bertrand, Banyuls, 2016 75cl, 16.5%
Full and well-balanced with notes of blackcurrant, blackberry, dark cherry jam and chocolate. Finishes with a fudgey, woody spiced note and goes on forever!
Find it for £15.26 at vinello.co.uk
Read the full article on Roussillon HERE!