Wine Touring in Languedoc, France
by Linda
Jenkins of Vacations-Abroad.com
| "This lesser-known area is a personal favorite for the wines, food, people" ... Michael Bryan |
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Collioure
is a wonderful art community, wine region, AND is
famous for "anchois" (anchovies!) |
In southern France, just before the Spanish border, the grey granite of the Pyrenees Mountains drops dramatically down to the Mediterranean Sea. Natural harbors hug the shores with restaurants, palm trees, ancient fortresses, castles and palaces. Collioure, a picturesque village, is framed between the ocean and mountains. The scent of fish envelopes you as you descend towards the beach and wonderful restaurants. Collioure has dramatic architecture along its shores; the 12th century Royal Palace built as a summer residence by the King of Majorca and the 17th century Church of Notre-Dame-des-Anges. For many centuries it remained a fishing village but in the early 1900’s Matisse and Picasso “discovered” Collioure and spent many years painting the beautiful landscape and trading their painting with the owner of Templar Hotel in exchange for a place to stay. Fauvism was born and the town grew in popularity. Today, the village of Collioure has created the Fauvism Trail, where you can trace the footsteps of Picasso and Matisse and see why they fell in love in with this beautiful village. The village of Collioure is within the AOC region, appellation d'origine contrôlée, of Collioure, Banyuls and Banyuls Grand Cru. Those AOC regions are combined in the four villages of Collioure, Port Vendres, Banyuls Sur Mer, and Cerberus. Wines that fall within the AOC must adhere to certain quality standards; the wine is usually a mixture of a specific types of grapes, the type of grape used in the wine is defined, along with a minimum and maximum percentage of a specific mixture of grapes for the wine. The fields must fall within a certain geographic area; the maximum number of vines planted per acre is defined along with the maximum yield per acre. In spite of the fact that the AOC Collioure , AOC Banyuls and AOC Banyuls Grand Cru encompass the same villages, their wines are very different. AOC Collioure focuses on red and rose wines. However, the Banyuls wines are a bit more complicated. They go through several unique processes. First they must pass through a process called “maceration” in which the grapes with their skins are allowed to soak in the juice for a period of time. Another process involved is “mutage”. This occurs when grape or brandy alcohol is added to the wine during the fermentation process. The alcohol stops the fermentation process, allowing the wine to retain its naturally sweet taste left from the grapes. The addition of the grape alcohol at the beginning of the fermentation process can create wines that have higher alcohol content, up to 20% by volume. Banyuls Grand Cru must be aged in wood for at least 30 months. The wines from Banyuls are also called “Vins du Natural” which is a term for a sweet wine.
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| These amazing castles built by the Cathares were the inspiration for such writers as JRR Tolken's Lord of the Rings. |
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The
French have a wonderful expression for the herbal
scrub that grows on the hardscape in this part of
the world: "La Garrigue" The local winemakers
believe whole heartedly that the Garrigue impacts
the flavor profile of their wines. |
View More of Linda's Trip Pictures here: http://www.vacations-abroad.com/photos/france/languedoc/index.htm http://www.vacations-abroad.com/photos/france/languedoc/index2.htm http://www.vacations-abroad.com/photos/france/languedoc/index3.htm And all of the wineries visited are plotted on a Google Map here!
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