2004 Domaine du Mas Blanc Collioure Clos du Moulin

Parce’s 2004 Collioure Clos du Moulin (90% Mourvedre and 10% Counoise) displays the sort of floral perfume and effusive personality one associates with wines grown on granite. Dried cherry, cocoa powder, and sweet flowers dominate the nose. Salt and iodine, nut oils and deep roasted meat character join in on the palate, which is silken in texture, intensely-flavored, yet without any superficial suggestion of sweetness and a refined, faintly bitter, decidedly mineral finish. It should age nicely for at least 5-7 years. 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