2024 Domaine Danjou-Banessy 'La Truffiere Blanc' / Carignan Gris, Cotes Catalanes IGP, France
One of our favourite Whites. The 2024 La Truffière Blanc from brothers Benoît and Sébastien Danjou is a remarkable expression of Roussillon and its rare Carignan Gris. Grown near Espira-de-l’Agly in the Côtes Catalanes, the fruit comes from organically farmed vines over 80 years old, rooted in dark schist and marl over limestone. Yields are tiny, with fermentation occurring naturally before around 20 months maturation in Burgundy barrels. The result is powerful yet beautifully precise: citrus and orchard fruit meet bitter orange, wild herbs, smoke and struck-stone minerality, carried by vibrant acidity and a long, saline finish. The warm, windswept Côtes Catalanes landscape gives the wine concentration, while old vines and limestone bring remarkable freshness. Complex, textural and distinctly Mediterranean, La Truffière demonstrates why Danjou-Banessy has become one of the most exciting domaines of modern Roussillon. "100% Carignan Gris. Spontaneous fermentation. Aged 20 months in old barrels. Unfined, unfiltered. Low added sulphites. Certified organic (Ecocert). Typical Danjou-Banessy, this is a dragon of a wine. So smoky it could set the belly of a mountain on fire. Wild mint and napeta and rosemary – strongly aromatic. Struck flint. A real fire-and-brimstone wine, but somewhere deep inside the cavern there is a golden-orange sliver of apricot, of bitter orange, like the fire glow of sunrise splitting the dark earth from the night sky. A challenging, even daunting wine, for insiders only. Needs time and I would strongly recommend decanting." 17.5/20 jancisrobinson.com