Alcohol: 13%
Grape(s): 50% Grenache Noir, 25% Carignan, 25% Mourvedre
Localization: Banyuls, Languedoc-Roussillon, France
Tasting Notes: Herbal, spicy floral red fruits lead on to a lusher raisiny palate, finishing with leather and wild herb tones.
The Domain: Bertrand de Guitaut, who started Pechpeyrou in that year-of-heat 2003, makes slightly eccentric wines in the micro-winery underneath his house above Banyuls town (you're not allowed to build a cellar on farm land i.e. next to the vineyard, stupid rules huh), using grapes sourced from his tiny 1.7 ha of vineyards (about 4 acres) to produce a grand total of 3000 bottles. One parcel is located on the way towards the Col de Banyuls, the thrilling little 'road' that climbs over the pass into Spain behind the town, which is 100m higher top to bottom and planted with mostly red Grenache and Carignan & Mourvèdre plus a couple of white varieties (mainly Grenache gris and blanc), all mixed together. The other overlooks the sea and contains a bit of clay in the soil, planted with red Grenache and again a few whites.
Bertrand thinks: "it's the best way to go for Collioure and Banyuls if you have small plots, by naming each cuvée after the parcel, or its Catalan name, like a 'clos' in Burgundy" (where he's from originally). In addition, he follows organic growing methods, thanks largely to "300 windy days a year" making mildew and oidium less of a threat. In 2007 for example, "I only applied sulphur (treatments) twice."
Buy 6 bottles of regularly priced (not on sale) wines and receive 5% off.
Buy 12 and receive 10% off.
Email sale wines do not combine nor count towards the above discount.
We would consider all wine to be "Natural". The term "Natural Wine" has the connotation of lacking a touch with nature. The winegrowers we champion are those who are farmers first. They seek to capture the uniqueness of the site (terroir) in the purest way possible. The product is as pure as possible and without wine-making flaws (brettanomyces, mercaptans, volatile acidity, etc.
Raw, in this case, we define as realistic and not manipulated. The winemakers use the least amount of intervention as possible. Wine should be made in the vineyard, not the cellar. The winemaker's job is to get the wine into the bottle in the purest form possible. There are additives that go into making wine, some are essential and some are not. Wines in this category do not have extra additives. They are free of added sulfur, or have the most minimal amounts possible in order to provide shelf stability for the consumer to experience the wine as the winemaker intended it to be.
