Chapoutier's 2009 Banyuls does an excellent job of projecting in fortified, sweet format the sorts of herbal elements - fennel, juniper, marjoram - that are characteristically associated in dry red wine with the environmental underbrush or garrigue. Plum and blueberry preserves along with mint chocolate form the principle themes for a soothing wine that - while rather superficially sweet - retains a welcome degree of primary juiciness as well as the aforementioned herbal characteristics that help to offset that sweetness in what is an impressively long finish. I suspect this will be most enjoyable over the next 3-4 years, though perhaps greater interest and - after a considerable elapse of time - a diminution in sucrosity will develop. (Chapoutier's 2008 Banyuls was reported to have been entirely sold-out inside France, and there was not a bottle available for me to taste during my visit to Chapoutier's Roussillon - Domaine Bila-Haut - facility.) Importer: Paterno Imports, Lake Bluff, IL; tel. (847) 604-8900

Concentrated dark plum and sweet cherry flavors are infused with plenty of milk chocolate and spice notes, which linger on the sweet finish. Drink now through 2030. 1,000 cases imported.??–KM??Region: France / Languedoc-Roussillon / Banyuls Select to Add