The Coume del Mas Story
Philippe and Nathalie Gard own this lovely boutique estate. They live in pretty Banyuls in a small house on top of one of the hills, from where the magnificent hills and valleys of this beautiful region are easily visible. Philippe was joined by winemaker Andy Cook a few years ago and the estate is going from strength to strength with a highly sought-after production which sells out every year.
The vines are situated on a large number of small parcels dotted throughout the region. Some are on the high terraces overlooking the sea, where its cooling influence is important; others are further inland. The vines are in many cases very old – up to 100 years- and are very low-yielding; the wines are tight and concentrated but without losing their balance.
Coume del Mas Wines
If you are a believer in “minerality” there is plenty of that for you here in all the wines, red and white, even though acidity levels are analytically low.
The Schistes wine is made from pure Grenache from vines close to the sea; it is unoaked and bottled straight from tank.
Quadratur, the flagship red wine of the domaine, is a blend of Grenache, Carignan and Mourvèdre, and spends 12 months in oak. La Coume del Mas vineyard, one of the oldest in the domaine, goes into this wine.
The dry white Folio Blanc is a powerful, spicy, barrel-fermented Grenache Gris.
Then there are the Banyuls wines:
Banyuls Blanc, is totally reductive in style – like a sweet Folio.
Galateo is a lighter, fruity red.
Quintessence is aged in 50% new oak, and is the most serious, age worthy and concentrated of the three. It is a powerful impressive deep wine with plenty of fruit and spice. It is ideal with bitter chocolate puddings. These three are all made in the modern, “Rimage” system where the wine does not undergo any oxidative influence.
The Banyuls “Tradition”, as the name implies, follows the other production method, where the wine is late bottled – more like a proper Tawny Port – after several years ageing in barrel. The current vintage of Tradition has components blended back to 2008.
White
| Description | Tech Sheet |
|---|---|
| Bonnie Chenin Blanc | |
| Folio, Collioure | |
| Folio, Collioure |
Red
| Description | Tech Sheet |
|---|---|
| Schistes, Collioure | |
| Schistes, Collioure | |
| Quadratur, Collioure |
Sweet
| Description | Tech Sheet |
|---|---|
| Banyuls Blanc | |
| Coume del Mas Banyuls Tradition | |
| Galateo, Banyuls Rouge | |
| Quintessence, Banyuls Rouge | |
| Banyuls Hors d’Age | |
| Banyuls Ambré |
Map
