A vertical of Banyuls wines from Dr. Parce.
I was lucky enough to be allowed to share one of my favorite dessert
wines with one of my tasting groups. We’ve tried to do this tasting
for the last 10-12 months but coordinating schedules proved to be
problematic until last night. It was worth the wait.
Rather than typing out all the details on Banyuls I refer you to:
The Oxford Companion to Wine
http://www.wine.com/exec/oxford/entry?e=Banyuls" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
And the Vineyard Brands page on Dr. Parce:
http://www.vineyardbrands.com/brandsheets/parce.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I will note that Banyuls are a fortified wine. It is only after the
fortification, a technique devised in 1285 by Arnau de Vilanova, which
stops the fermentation, that the Banyuls wines get their Appellation
and their seal of approval.
And now for my TNs. The wines were not served blind and are presented
in the order poured.
1975 Banyuls Domaine du Mas Blanc Grand Vin
Rancio Mire Dr. Parce $57
dusty cocoa, hint of coffee, lightly oxidized nose
medium-light body, cocoa, medium-high acid, light earth, very
light coffee, lightly maderized in a good way, delicate,
complex, balanced
Score: A
1978 Banyuls Domaine du Mas Blanc Grand Vin
Cuvee de la St. Martin Dr. Parce $45
dark chocolate and light earth in the nose
medium body, earthy chocolate, medium acid, a bit syrupy
Score: A/A-
1979 Banyuls Domaine du Mas Blanc Grand Vin
Cuvee de la St. Martin Dr. Parce $55
corked frown
1981 Banyuls Domaine du Mas Blanc Grand Vin
Cuvee de la St. Martin Dr. Parce $74
rich chocolate and very very light earth tones in the nose
medium-full body, chocolaty, WOW!!, very light earth, cocoa,
light tannin, balanced, good acid structure, complex, WOW!,
raisins, black fruits
Score: A+
1990 Banyuls Domaine Du Mas Blanc “Rimage mise tardive”
Dr. Parce $53
very reserved nose, maybe some light chocolate in the nose
medium-full body, chocolate brownies, medium acid, very light
earth tones
Score: A-
1991 Banyuls Domaine Du Mas Blanc “Rimage mise tardive”
Dr. Parce $26
chocolate, dark cherries, very light earthy nose
medium body, balanced, cherries, chocolate, earthy on finish,
light acid, very nice.
Score: A
1994 Dr. Parce Banyuls Cuvee La Coume $42
dusty chocolate, cherries, very light alcohol in nose
cherries, chocolate, medium tannin, light alcohol, great
cherry flavors, medium-light body, very young
Score: A
1994 Dr. Parce Banyuls Rimage $45
tart dark cherry, light chocolate, black cherries in the nose
medium-light body, light-medium alcohol, chocolate covered
cherries, very very light earth
Score: B+
1995 Banyuls Domaine Du Mas Blanc “Rimage” Cuvee Speciale
Dr. Parce $23
chocolate covered cherries, light raspberry, light alcohol in
the nose
medium-full body, sweet fruits, light alcohol, orange peels,
complex, light nutmeg
Score: A
1998 Dr. Parce Banyuls Rimage La Coume $37
raspberry, very fruit forward nose
raspberry, lush fruit, medium-full tannins, chocolate, some
spice, different attack than the others, more fruits, warm
sensation from the alcohol
Score: A
And a bonus wine that I just found and wanted to try:
NV Dr. Parce Banyuls Hors d’Age Vielli en Solera
chocolaty, earth, flowers, baked fruit in the nose
full-medium body, chocolaty, light earth, black cherry, huge
on the palate, balanced, light tannins, orange rinds, dried
fruits, nice, probably a long ager but ok now.
Score: A
And the commentary:
Wow what a great tasting (even if I do say so myself). I’ve never had
more than 1-2 in any given month so the opportunity to try such a
large range of wines over almost 3 decades was just a lot of fun and
very informative. Ranking these wines is a forced exercise, they were
all very good, even great. It is also worthy to note that
none of these wines were showing any signs of fading. We tended to
like the older wines a bit better due to the balance and the fact that
the alcohol wasn’t as prevalent. A lot of people thought the solera
style was ready today or could last a decade or more. I thought it was
a bit young and would be better in 10-20 years. But I also like the
smoother, better balanced banyuls. I drink them on release with all
the up front fresh grenache or I like to wait 15+ years. The
inbetweens, while good, don’t provide me with the same pleasure as the
young and old wines.
The 1975 was a feminine example of the Dr. Parce style. Elegant,
refined, perfectly balanced, perfumed. Beautiful.
The 1978 was a bit syrupy and this was the only wine that displayed
this characteristic. I’m not sure why, I’ve never found that to be the
case in any other Dr. Parce Banyuls. Is it characteristic of the
vintage, an odd bottle, what? No clue. Still a nice wine, just showing
a bit different palate feel.
The 1979 was corked. A great disappointment.
The 1981 was the wine of the night for me. It had everything and then
some. It was beautiful, complex, flavorful and going strong. If I were
to envision a perfect example of Banyuls, this was it. Best bottle
I’ve ever had.
The 1990 was quite reserved on the nose and this hurt the score (down
to an A-). The palate was nice, worthy of an A but with nothing
showing in the nose it simply didn’t deserve higher scores. I do have
high hopes for it based on the palate and it may simply be in a
stage. No one picked up any flaws, it just didn’t show well among the
rest of the bottles due to the restrained nose.
The 1991 seemed to show a shift in style. I’m not sure if this is
simply an age factor in that the 1991 and younger wines are just
young, or if there was a change in winemaking style/philogophy. I
noticed that the cherry components were the first to jump out at me
and then the chocolate and earth. This happened with the 1994s and
1995/1998 as well. In all the older vintages it was always chocolate
and earth first and I had to concentrate to pick out any cherry
nuances. The 1991 hit you with cherry right away. Only time will
answer whether it is a shift in style or simply a factor of
age. Unless, of course, someone has the inside scoop on when the son,
Jean-Michel, started having a greater influence on the bottlings.
The 1994 Rimage had a bit too much alcohol which threw off the
balance. I think it will integrate, just like a port, but for now it
only gets a B+ due to the noticible alcohol on the palate.
The 1998 has Jean-Michel’s signature all over it. First off it is a
BIG change in the bottle itself. No longer do we have the white
labels, black and gold lettering. We now have tall, thin, and gray
labels with red text. The palate also struck me as drastically
different from any of the others. Raspberries jump out at you, the
wine is very fruit forward. And not the restrained grenache fruit I
associated with the 1995 on release. This was SEXY, in your face lush
fruit. Raspberries, not cherries or chocolate, raspberries. Maybe
again a feature of the vintage but with the obvious visual cue of the
new bottle, and knowing the son, Jean-Michel, took over full
responsibility at the winery in 1997 I’ve attributed the difference to
the son. Even blind you could tell this wine was different but to
determine if it was the vintage or the son is an open question.
The solera was a new wine to me. I didn’t know they made one. The
solera was started in 1925 and is bottled every 2 years. It contains
grapes from all the different parcels owned by Domaine du Mas
Blanc. It is an amazing wine, something special. It does have solera
characteristics, no doubt due to the fact that it does undergo
measured oxidation like any solera style wine. While I would like to
wait another 5-10 years to open my next bottle many people felt it was
good to drink now. I would gladly open it with some baked
apples/cherry dessert or maybe some nut bread with fresh fruit on the
side. It is good.
I look for Dr. Parce Banyuls all the time and have yet to see any
other vintages from the 1980s except the 1981. No clue if they make
this stuff every year or not. Maybe I’m just looking in the wrong
places. Also, unfortunately, several of these were my last bottles,
so my search for replacements must start again. Luckily some of these
I have many bottles of and I’ll be drinking them over the next 20
years among good friends.