Coume del Mas - Banyuls Grand Cru 2005

Bettane & Desseauve

About wine:

The estate's first Banyuls Grand Cru. Complex, powerful, and delicate, its sweetness is balanced by a lively freshness, maintaining equilibrium and ending with a long, expressive, and elegant finish. A beautiful exercise in style.

About the estate:

Based in Cosprons, a hamlet in Port-Vendres, Philippe Gard has chosen to set himself apart from most of the local wine producers, and his wines reflect his personality. With a string of degrees to his name, this agricultural engineer and oenologist arrived in the region in 1997, after spending many years camping in the wild. He created his estate in 1997, which now covers 15 hectares. While many others make sweet wines out of tradition and heritage, he has chosen to make high-end wines. These are aged for a long time, and above all with the lees from the current vintage, not those from the previous ten years! As for Collioure wines, which account for 80% of production, they offer several identities, sometimes by the sea, sometimes at altitude, but always with the same precision on the palate.

Guide Hachette des vins

About the estate:

An agricultural engineer, Philippe Gard first worked at the Auxerre Chamber of Agriculture, then at the Bordeaux Chamber of Agriculture. But his passion is wine, and in 1998 he and Nathalie settled in Cosprons, near the Paulilles cove, where he now cultivates 14 hectares of terraced vineyards. He launched his Coume del Mas label in 2001. Intense and refined, his Banyuls and Collioure wines immediately caused a sensation.

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

About wine:

With a deep coffee color, the 2005 Banyuls Grand Cru is a deep, rich, full-bodied wine with chocolatey dessert notes. It delivers hints of espresso, figs, caramel, and spices. It is slightly dominated by chocolate, but it is loaded with fruit and nicely balanced.

RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France

About wine:

Intense aromatic personality; one imagines dried figs, cocoa, warm brick, powdery clay... The substance that carries these suggestions is concentrated, pungent, with an almost feverish brilliance (high volatility!).

About the estate:

Philippe Gard, who is passionate about his terroirs, settled in the hamlet of Cosprons, between Banyuls-sur-Mer and Port-Vendres. He is determined to cultivate his 13 hectares of old vines, which are remarkably well located. All the wines are fermented in barrels, and his knowledge of his plots allows him to adapt to the vagaries of climate and microclimate depending on the year. His expertise in winemaking and aging has quickly placed his production among the most ambitious in the sector. It deserves the attention of aficionados of Côte Vermeille wines: all his wines are exciting and have great aging potential!