Producer: Domaine Le Casot des Mailloles

Alain Castex

Where?

Banyuls-sur-Mer is the southernmost appellation of Roussillon, or Northern Catalonia. The landscape rises into rugged cliffs where the vines follow winding, steep, sometimes dizzying curves. It is one of the most beautiful wine-growing landscapes in France, dramatic and Mediterranean, known for its naturally sweet wines fortified with alcohol. However, although the winery is located in Banyuls, Banyuls is not produced at Casot des Mailloles. The estate is renowned for its dry wines in the Vin de France category and the Collioure AOC. In 1994, Alain Castex and Ghislaine Magnier founded it on the heights of Banyuls, driven by a passion for this harsh and luminous Mediterranean landscape: schist hills, low walls, dry-stone cabins (casots), terraced vineyards, vegetation battling the sun and the tramontane wind… Alain is a leading figure in the natural wine sector in Languedoc-Roussillon: he already has extensive experience in viticulture in the Corbières region and does not allow any chemical additives in his wines. His Banyuls estate is no exception. The result of tireless work, his wines are more than natural: supernatural. His bottles have become legendary, and the finest restaurants are snapping them up.

In 2015, a young Catalan winemaker, Jordi Perez, gently took over the estate: the work in these insane vineyards had become too arduous for the Castex family. Drawing on his numerous winemaking internships, which have taken him from the Grands Crus Classés of the Médoc (Château Beychevelle) to Saint-Chinian and Fitou, via the Côtes de Gascogne, Jordi fully respects the heritage of this legendary Roussillon estate and even extends it by developing pastoralism and agroforestry practices on both sites, Banyuls and Tarerach.

Terroir, plots, and grape varieties

Five hectares constitute the historic heart of the steep slopes of Banyuls and produce the AOC Collioure. On these schist terraces overlooking the sea, the vines are ancient, some centuries old. The other site, producing Vins de France, is in Tarerach, about twenty kilometers west of Perpignan: a landscape of granite sandstone where the vines are just as perched as in Banyuls, between 500 and 600 meters above sea level. The grape varieties are typical of Roussillon: Grenache Noir, Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Carignan for the reds, Grenache Gris and Grenache Blanc for the whites, complemented by Roussanne and Vermentino.

Growing Methods

Alain Castex always sought to go "beyond organic"; Jordi Perez continues his work without detracting from his accomplishments. Today, as in the past, the vines are cultivated biodynamically (Ecocert label), at the cost of enormous and entirely manual labor on these extremely uneven soils. With very low yields, the attention paid to each vine is scrupulous, with a very light application of volcanic sulfur. The Tarerach plots are worked by horse. At the Banyuls site, the vines are maintained in winter by grazing sheep from the Côte Vermeille Pastoral Group. No chemical inputs are added to the vines. Jordi Perez pays particular attention to soil management, ensuring permanent plant cover and adding an agroforestry dimension by planting, according to local custom, numerous native fruit trees (olive and almond trees). The freshness of the wines benefits from this.

Vinification

The vinifications are entirely natural, with no added sulfites, 100% grapes, without fining or filtration, with considerable attention paid to the health of the harvest and the winery. Macerations are generally short, more pronounced in the Collioures region. The aging, of varying duration, preferably takes place in vats or old barrels to avoid, or reduce, woody notes.

The Wines

The almost Herculean work of the vineyard on the cliffs of Banyuls is bearing fruit: the wines of Casot des Mailloles are vintages for the initiated, sincere, generous, and full of emotion. The reds are endowed with that lilting fruit on the palate that characterizes Collioures. Since Jordi Perez took over the estate, the wines even seem more straightforward to some tasters. While preserving the historic vintages, Jordi has also created his own at Tarerach, such as Obreptice, a pure white Vermentino; Le Rosé de Zaza, a pure Syrah with fruity and tangy notes; and Comax Éthylix, a short-maceration red Syrah. The great classic Collioures, from the old vines of Banyuls, continue to seduce and enchant: Blanc du Casot (white and gray Grenache, Vermentino, Roussanne), El Niño (Carignan, Syrah, Mourvèdre), Soulà (black Grenache, Mourvèdre) and the Vi Sin Num (“wine without a name”) blend, a single-plot cuvée with multiple grape varieties.