2021 Domaine Danjou-Banessy, Roboul, Cotes Catalanes

Well, when you worship at the punts of Rayas and various famous Burgundy houses, you’ll try to recreate those sorts of wines no matter where your family’s vineyards are. But where it gets really crazy is that the family vineyards the brothers inherited were long farmed to create Rivesaltes, the classic dessert wine of the Roussillon. Just like those producers they aspire to be, their work began in the vineyard where they decided to go head-on into biodynamic viticulture, which seems bonkers when you see the desert-like vineyards – it’s just rocks, barely any soil to speak of. Roboul is Mourvedre and Grenache, vines in clay and limestone soils with the Rhône-esque galets (large, rounded rocks) on top. The whole clusters are retained, and then crushed and aged in neutral Burgundy barrels for 12 months. Nothing is added or removed. It dances across the palate, both rich and bright with gorgeous dark red fruits and mineral strike.