Collioure: 2008 whites & rosés

From collioure.com

"As well as being a quite famous (think brightly coloured paintings and now-extinct anchovies), twee, upmarket seaside town on the southeast Roussillon coast, not far from the barely visible line marking Catalunya Sud; the evocative name of Collioure is also an appellation for red, white and rosé wines. It covers the same terrain as vineyards used to source grapes for those perhaps better known Vins Doux Naturels, sweet fortified aged reds (mostly) labelled as Banyuls, stretching dramatically behind and between Collioure, Port-Vendres, Banyuls-sur-mer and Cerbère.

Anyway, Collioure has arguably gained a pretty good reputation for its big red wines (based on Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre...), at least for those lucky enough to have discovered any of the very good ones; but also deserves to find a wider wine-enthusiast audience (especially as they can be just as dear as the reds) for its sometimes very characterful whites and rosés. Here are half-a-dozen 2008s I discovered at the Musaïques des Collioure wine & food festival in mid-June 2009, which are enticing autumn drinking." RMJames

White

2008 Domaine Manya-Puig (Grenache blanc Marsanne Roussanne) - aromatic, floral and lightly exotic fruit vs zingy, elegant and tight mouthfeel; zesty orange peel notes vs a touch of appealing weight and roundness. €8.50 87

2008 Les Canadells Domaine La Tour Vieille (mostly Grenache blanc Grenache gris Vermentino plus Macabeu Marsanne 14%) - floral nutty nose with a touch of background oak and lightly exotic fruit; juicy apricot-tinged palate with quite weighty and rounded mouthfeel, powerful nutty finish and well-handled oak texture. €13 87+

Browse 'Winery A-Z' for full profile & tasting notes on La Tour Vieille including a delicious rosé plus all their reds and VDNs.

2008 Domaine Piétri-Géraud (Grenache blanc Grenache gris Vermentino) - shows a touch of vanilla on the nose but this is zesty and fresh too, rounded and toasty but not too much with good balance in the end. Approx £/$/12 85
Browse 'Winery A-Z' for full profile & tasting notes on Piétri-Géraud.

Other great white Collioure tips: Mas Blanc, Coume del Mas, La Rectorie. More on these estates under 'Winery A-Z'.

Rosé

2008 Domaine St. Sébastien - nice creamy vs lively red fruit style, oily textured and weighty vs zesty and crisp with light bitter twist. €8 87

2008 La Rectorie - big juicy vs tight and zingy mouthful, perfumed rose petal and red fruits on its quite serious finish. €15! 87+

Browse 'Winery A-Z' for full profile & tasting notes on La Rectorie.

2008 Domaine Casa Blanca - attractive oily and red fruity textured style, ripe "sweet" vs crisp and lively on the finish. 87+

Other tasty Collioure rosés: Clos Paulilles, Domaine Berta-Maillol. Browse 'Winery A-Z' for more info.