La Rectorie ( Banyuls )

As soon as we arrived in Banyuls late in the afternoon that saturday, we went straight to La Rectorie, an estate famous for its Banyuls and Collioure wines . Appellation zone for Collioure and Banyuls is the same . The type of vinification decides if the wine is labelled as Banyuls or Collioure . La Rectorie makes more dry wines than the traditional fortified wines typical of Banyuls . We had an appointment to talk to one of the owners . When we reach La Rectorie, a "maison bourgeoise" in the middle of Banyuls, Pierre Parcé opens the door . The ground floor is the tasting room, with black & white pictures on the walls . Pierre Parcé was formerly a photographer ( the link _click on 1 under the video screen_will allow you to see a video with an interview of him, along with some of his photographic work ) . He is waiting for us with his daughter Zelie, herself a student in lyric chant . A group of students, friends of Zelie, plus 2-3 other people, join for the tasting . Pierre Parcé manages the Domaine with 2 of his brothers . He explains how his grand-grandmother was central in the history of the estate . Her name was Therèse Parcé ( born Reig ), 1870-1969 . Lived until the age of 99 , drinking wine every day, yes sir... She was a fervent catholic and managed the domaine with the help of Joseph, a spanish employee, himself a turbulent anticlerical refugee from the spanish civil war .Explaining before the real thing... They both, with their very opposite personalities, had a role in the fact that when the Parcé brothers gradually came back to La Rectorie ( from the mid 70's ), they found vineyards that had been very seriously worked . Very well tended . The elder brother, Marc, came here in 1976 while Pierre began his career in Paris as a photographer . Younger Thierry came in 1981 . Already then they had this philosophy of working with mules between the rows and maintaining the small walls along the terraces . And many voices in the region, including that of knowledgeable specialists, predicted they would'nt last long with this style of work . But they not only lasted, but they are now among the few references in Banyuls and Collioure wines . At that time, Mr André Brugirard, an oenologist who met Marc, had an important role in helping the estate stay on the right tracks for quality, until he felt the brothers handled their own destiny just fine . First vinification in 1984, " à la Banyuls" . Banyuls wines then were all fortified wines on juice . Here, they made fortified wine on grapes, wich can be sold very young, with fruit aroma extraction . The short term goal was to restart the activity without having to wait the 7 years needed for the correct maturation of the wine . This was a novelty success story . View on La Rectorie vineyards Another of their good moves : Vignerons around here did not think valuable things could be done with Grenache Gris . That's where they created a surprise with the Cuvée Argile : Early ripening Grenache Gris, with possible 14° , 14,5° on the third week of august . Other opportunities allowed the creation of other cuvées, after they met 3 vignerons in 2000 who were previously bringing their grapes to the Maury coop winery . After realizing they had common goals, the Parcé brothers bought a chai and cellar in Maury to vinify the grapes of these vignerons . This was the creation of "La Preceptorie", their second estate, sort of . Surface is 38 hectares for La Preceptorie, and 24 hectares for La Rectorie .

Collioure rosé La Goudie 2004 Let's taste __1 White . La Preceptorie 2004 . Vin de Pays des Cotes Catalanes . [ picture on the left ] White with mostly Carignan . Rise in strength . Pressed . Then in vat to rack the lees . Then in (old) casks . "Cuvée made, in these hygienist times, to say loudly that wine is life", he says . Pierre Parcé wonders who still cares for the nice work, "le bel ouvrage", as writes Charles Peguy, when he describes the quasi perfectionist work of the artisanal chair bottomer . Nice nose . Fresh .

__2 White . La Preceptorie "La Coume Marie" 2004 . Majority Macabeu, and Grenache . "Coume" means small valley . For people who discover their wines, he says, it is good to begin with these wines that have seduction . Very floral . Nice acidity in the mouth . Nice density, says B.
__3 White . La Preceptorie 'Terres Nouvelles" 2004 . Comes from plots that were the personal plots of the ( mostly spanish then ) workers in the past . It was common in the past to offer such advantages to the workers, so that they could work for themselves too . These plots are 50 years old, on schists . Only Grenache Gris . 3 hectares with a good quality vineyard . What to say about it ? Can't stop enjoying the nose and the mouth .
__4 White . Collioure Argile 2004 . From a high plot . Part of the final assemblage . Grenache Gris and a little of Grenache Blanc . Early harvest to sort out certain clusters , the grey ones, the black being left for later harvest .

__5 White . Collioure Argile 2004 . From the lower vineyard plot . The second part of the Argile cuvée . Very nice nose , some honey . Maybe a little more acidity in the 1st part, and a little more alcohol in this one . First vinification of Argile in 1993 .
__6 Rosé 2004 . Colour : Quite purple . Mostly only Carignan . One night maceration . Then, after the must settled, in casks for 4-5 months, with stirring of the lees .
__7 Rosé 2004 "Coume Marie" . Grenache and Carignan . Same vinification . I like it . High in alcohol,n I guess .
__8 Rosé Collioure "La Goudie" 2004 . [ picture above ] . Simone Laffite was the missionary for this wine and works to have it known by passionate wine lovers . She is a restaurateur near Marseilles . Stayed labelled as Vin de Pays 2 years . Then, curiously, the good work here was discovered through an article of the Wall Street Journal, and ( such rebound effects happen sometimes ) the INAO got interested and integrated it in the Collioure Appellation . Colour : Dense rosé . After the harvest, the grapes were crushed and, after a night and the must settled, went in casks . Nice rosé .
__9 Red . Collioure La Preceptorie 2002 . Grenache Noir 70%, Carignan 30% . Matured in casks, 18 months . Shistic soil . In the debate about the role of terroir, soil and microclimate, we are going to taste now something made with the same grape variety , age and vinification, but on a very different terroir :
__10 Red . Collioure "Terre Promise" 2002 . Same Grenache Noir and Carignan proportions. Superb . Explosive nose . Gorgeous mouth .
__11 Red . La Rectorie Collioure "Le Seris" 2002 . 14° Grenache ( majority ), Carignan . Matured in big casks ( foudres ) . Seris is the plot name, a plot deeply embanked in an oak forest . Quite earthy soil , with cool climate . You can give 10 years before drinking this wine, but after 3 or 4 years it is already very nice . Even very good right now, I would say .
__12 Red . La Rectorie Collioure "Coume Pascole" 2002 . 14° . Syrah-Grenache . The Grenache-Syrah couple gives it strength, in spite of the young age of the wine (2002) . What can I say ?... Great wine . Long lasting mouth . Syrah vinified separately . Speaking of maturation, Pierre Parcé says that at La Rectorie they use more and more 1/2 muids casks .

__13 Red . La Rectorie Collioure "L'Oriental" MMIII ( 2003 in roman figures) . Year in roman because the 1st year it was made with a "table wine" label and thus could'nt show the year or have "La Rectorie" on it . Marc Parcé worked a lot to have it integrated to the Collioure Appellation, wich was done in 2003 . Speaking of the wine in the past,he says when he was a child, he saw the wine ( wich was then as high in alcohol as now, around 15° ) being blended with water before the meals . He cites a traduction of the Bible where , in the book of Macchabees, the delight of wine mixed with water is evoked .
__14 Red . La Preceptorie , Zoe 2003 . On this cuvée, the domaine began to use normacorc corks , to eliminate the risk of TCA taint . This wine is fervently dedicated to the joy of wine and the back label finger-points our hygienists, prohibitionists and state administration in France who try to spread guilt over wine consumption . Those of you who read french can enjoy the lyrical tone of the text here .
__15 Red . La Rectorie , Banyuls 2004 . Cuvée Frères . Intense nose . Liquorice, corinth grapes, I would say . Macerated fruits, spicy, too, says B. Mouth : Very sweet . This is a fortified wine on grapes . Plots where several grape varieties are mixed, with majority of Grenach Noir .
__16 Red . Perreira, Maury . 50 cl . Same as previous one , but on Maury . B. likes it .
__17 La Rectorie "L'Oublée" No year . Vin doux naturel ( fortified wine) 16° . The simpliest vinification you can find . Grenache Gris vinified as a white . Was very clear before going in casks . Oxydation in wood gave it this colour . Nose corinth grapes . Matured on the Solera principle : When wine is taken from the cask to fill a few bottles, the level is restored with wine addition .

La Rectorie : Phone 33 (0)4 68 81 02 94 Fax 33 (0)4 68 81 02 42
[email protected]

Comments

[thecaveman]

Any idea how long these things age? I had one producer tell me that either you drink them young or wait at least 10 years.
Caveman

[Bertrand]

Their dry reds , as the following link says, age 5 to 10 years , and the fortified wines 20 to 40 years . Some of the dry reds we tasted were already so enjoyable after a few years . I guess having several bottles of a given cuvée would allow to check it along the years...
http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:rqziTW7FeqwJ:membres.lycos.fr/vin/actis98/rectorie.htm+la+rectorie++ans&hl=fr

[Mr. Bayona]

Dear Sir:
I'm looking for a marc made of corinth grape that I tasted some years ago in a Spanih Restaurant. Have you ever heard about it?
I will be very pleased if you can give me any information about this splendid liquor.
Thanks in advance
Mr. Bayona