Today we have another amazing VDN (vin doux naturel) from Domaine Píetri Géraud to share with our top customers—and what a treat it was to taste back-to-back wines from past generations. Though this isn’t a World War II survivor like the Rivesaltes that preceded it, it was crafted during the reign of France’s famed Charles de Gaulle and has seen over 50 years of peaceful aging in large barrels.
I’ve tasted lots of back-vintage wines in my lifetime, but it’s always hard to wrap my mind around something with this much age. At my tasting, this Banyuls was showing a great deal of finesse and dark fruits intertwined with delicate spice, once again ‘wowing’ me with its vigor. Just as with our offer of Domaine Píetri Géraud’s 1945 Rivesaltes, quantities of this wine are severely limited and we can offer only one bottle per person. If you are lucky enough to grab both the Rivesaltes and today’s Banyuls, then I might suggest trying a casino or two in 2018. [*NOTE: The wine has been carbon-dated to verify age and local authorities have confirmed its provenance]
Fifth-generation Domaine Píetri Géraud has been in small-scale operation since the late 19th century. They are located in the small town of Collioure within the fortified wine appellation of Banyuls (dry wines from Banyuls carry the Collioure AOC designation). This area of France is deep in the south—four miles from Spain’s border—and the landscape is pure countryside with a warm Mediterranean backdrop. The fortified wines here, or Vins Doux Naturel (VDN), are made exactly like those of nearby Rivesaltes, but many of the top-quality wines are single-varietal Grenache, like today’s. This is a little piece of history with a predictably great origin story.
There was a tradition in Southern France during the 19th and 20th centuries (mostly fizzling out around the 1980s) that saw many small family producers crafting fortified wines aged for absurd amounts of time in barrel. These wines were typically sold to merchants or enjoyed in chic Parisian restaurants, but the winemakers usually held a barrel or two back for great vintages or special occasions—a family member’s birthday, an anniversary, a get-together...whatever or whenever it was, the winemaker would only bottle what was needed. When these fortified sweet wines declined in popularity, most winemakers, well, left the barrels where they were.
At the turn of the 21st century, a young couple named Phillipe and Sandrine Gayral (who own the largest collection of vin doux naturel wines from the 1900s), started scouring the countryside of Rivesaltes, Banyuls, and Maury in search of these “forgotten barrels.” They would meet with the families, who would then point them to their one or two remaining foudres containing wines from decades past. Assuming nobody cared about the wine, some estates were ecstatic when Phillipe and Sandrine offered to buy the barrels and bottle them for resale; others, however, took years to convince. And then, there were some estates that would tell them the barrel in question was from another local producer, bought by a friend of a friend long ago—so they would have to follow whatever breadcrumb trail remained.
Southern France’s vin doux naturel was first made in 13th century when
‘mutage’ was discovered. Simply, this is a process where a neutral spirit is added to prematurely kill yeast and suspend fermentation, leaving a concentrated and sweet wine with elevated alcohol. Today’s ‘62 Banyuls from Domaine Píetri Géraud is 100% Grenache Noir from old vines and low yields. After harvest in 1962, it briefly saw aging in large, bulbous glass jugs (
here’s a present-day look) that sat outdoors in order to gain oxygen exposure. Afterwards, it was transferred into large oak, where it sat undisturbed until being bottled without additions in 2014.
In the glass, this ’62 Banyuls shows an opaque garnet core with mahogany orange reflections on the rim. The nose oozes fruitcake, preserved black plum, dried black cherry, muddled red flowers, marmalade, dried blackberry, and accents of cassis, cacao, and anise. The palate is medium-plus bodied and the sweetness is balanced by the bright, but tamed acid. This isn’t cloying or dense like some Port, but it definitely holds it own with preserved black and red fruit sweetness and an ample mouthfeel. Remember, with decades of oak aging, it has withstood the test of time and there is no rush to drink this—I want to say it will last many more decades to come—maybe lasting until its 100th birthday. Enjoy in Port glasses or all-purpose stems around cellar temperature and, since it’s fortified, know it will keep a couple months after opening. For a paring, the easiest route is to go to your local bakery and ask for a rich chocolate cake, or try the attached dessert if you love to bake—and maybe sprinkle your own choice of crushed nuts on top. Enjoy!
