Collioure: 2008 whites & rosés

From collioure.com

As well as being a famous (for instance, brightly coloured masterpieces and extinct anchovies), twee and touristy seaside town on the south-east Roussillon coast, not far from the barely visible line marking Catalunya Sud; the evocative name of Collioure is also an appellation for red, white and rosé wines. It covers the same terrain as vineyards used to source grapes for those perhaps better-known Vins Doux Naturels, sweet fortified aged reds (mostly) labelled as Banyuls, stretching dramatically behind and between Collioure, Port-Vendres, Banyuls-sur-mer and Cerbère.

Collioure has arguably gained a pretty good reputation now for its Med red wines (based on Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre), at least for those lucky enough to have discovered any of the very good ones; but also deserves to find a wider wine-enthusiast audience (especially as they can be just as dear as the reds) for its sometimes very characterful whites and rosés. Here are half-a-dozen 2008 vintage wines I discovered at Les Musaïques des Collioure wine and food festival in mid-June 2009, which make enticing autumn drinking.

White

2008 Domaine Manya-Puig (Grenache blanc Marsanne Roussanne) - aromatic, floral and lightly exotic fruit vs zingy, elegant and tight mouth-feel; zesty orange peel notes vs a touch of appealing weight and roundness. €8.50 87

2008 Domaine La Tour Vieille Les Canadells (mostly Grenache blanc, Grenache gris and Vermentino plus Macabeu, Marsanne 14%) - floral nutty nose with a touch of background oak and lightly exotic fruit; juicy apricot-tinged palate with quite weighty and rounded mouthfeel, powerful nutty finish and well-handled oak texture. €13 87-89

Click here for a full profile & tasting notes on La Tour Vieille including a delicious rosé plus all their reds and VDNs.

2008 Domaine Piétri-Géraud (Grenache blanc Grenache gris Vermentino) - shows a touch of vanilla on the nose but this is zesty and fresh too, rounded and toasty but not too much with good balance in the end. Approx £/$/12 85-87

Click here for full profile & tasting notes on Piétri-Géraud.

Other white Collioure tips: Mas Blanc, Coume del Mas, La Rectorie. More on these estates here.

Rosé

2008 Domaine St. Sébastien - nice creamy vs lively red fruit style, oily textured and weighty vs zesty and crisp with light bitter twist. €8 87

2008 La Rectorie - big juicy vs tight and zingy mouthful, perfumed rose petal and red fruits on its quite serious finish. €15! 87-89

See Winery A-Z for full profile on La Rectorie.

2008 Domaine Casa Blanca - attractive oily and red fruity textured style, ripe sweet fruit vs crisp and lively on the finish. 87-89

Other tasty Collioure rosés: Clos Paulilles, Domaine Berta-Maillol. See Winery A-Z for more info.