Water and wine (Banyuls)

Vineyard by the sea. Sailing boat. Banyuls sur Mer, Roussillon, France

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Banyuls, stock photography samples, by Per Karlsson, BKWine.

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Banyuls is both the name of a village (full name: Banyuls-sur-Mer) and the name of an appellation controllée. Banyuls is located on the French Mediterranean coast near the border to Spain, in other words, in French Catalonia.

The village Banyuls (or small town if you prefer, some 5000 inhabitants) is a charming seaside resort with a big beach, a long seaside walk, a pleasure boat harbour and a busy restaurant and café life. It nestles between the sea and the mountains with a backdrop of impressive mountain tops – the beginning of the Pyrenees mountain range. It is also famous as the birth town of the artist Aristide Maillol.

Banyuls, the wine, is an AOC that is used for fortified wines, in French called Vins Doux Naturels (VDN). The vineyards of the region spread out over four communes: Banyuls, Cerbère, Collioure and Port-Vendres (all four charming villages). The wines are made from grenache noir, grenache gris, grenacher blanc and carignan grape varieties. Macabeu, muscat and malvoisie may also be used. The vinification is such that grape spirit (alcohol) is added to the fermenting must at an early stage. This stops the fermentation and makes for a sweet wine. Sometimes the wine is aged in glass bottles (bonbonnes or demi-jéannes – demi-johns) outside, exposed to the sun, to make the wine in an oxidative style.

All images © copyright Per Karlsson, BKWine. Images may not be used without our permission.


Roussillon Banyuls stock photo samples - Images by Per Karlsson

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