2003 Banyuls Rimage Cuvee La Coume

The 2003 Banyuls Rimage La Coume announces itself with plum and cherry preserve laced with an attractively bitter fruit pit character and topped with cocoa powder, cardamom, and nutmeg. With superb purity and shocking lightness and lift on entry despite its viscosity and residual sugar, this penetrates every crevice of the palate with multi-layered chocolate, fruit preserve, marzipan, and brown spices – a veritable Sachertorte of a Banyuls that should prove nearly ageless in the cellar yet can (and should) be pressed into immediate tableside service, whether with or in lieu of desserts! The often amazingly complex and always amazingly chocolate-friendly fortified Grenache-based wines of Banyuls (or their dry counterparts from neighboring Collioure) would until recently have remained little-known to Americans had it not been for the Domaine du Mas Blanc of Dr. Parce, where quality has not dipped over at least the past quarter century (since I began tasting them). Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802