I've been thinking for the past month about what to taste for the latest Wine Blog Wednesday. I wanted to do something different this time around, because almost everyone who participates is much more versed in wine than I. Reading the responses last month, I felt like the rookie at his first NFL mini-camp. So I did a lot of thinking and visiting a lot of wine shops. The shop around the corner carried nothing from Languedoc Roussillon. My pickings were slim at some others I visited.

That is until my friend Dmitri brought over a bottle of Banyuls to pair with Liz's chocolate truffle tort at a dinner party I threw last week.

Dr. Weingolb stated that Vins Doux Naturels wasn't what he had in mind for this month's WBW. That's understandable; fortified dessert wines are something of an exception. But Dmitri is an avid Port drinker, and it was nice to experience Dmitri's experience expanding -- and mine as well.

Banyuls is at least 50% grenache noir, and is produced by the process called mutage, which is similar to the method that Port is produced (minus the ride down the Duoro). Essentially, the fermentation process of the wine is stopped by the addition of grape alcohol to the must, so the wine retains the grape's natural sugars.

The wine we had with Liz's sumptuous dessert was Les Clos de Paulilles Banyuls Rimage 2005, rimage meaning "vintage." Because it was a 2005, this wine was younger than most of the fortified wines on the market, so it still had its dark ruby color. It was intensely aromatic, but less of the brandyish smell customary with high-alcohol wines and more of honeyed plum and black currants. It's rich and smooth mouthfeel had a very distinct feel taste of more currant and hints of dark chocolate. It had a lower acidity than I would have liked but ripe tannins befitting of a young wine.

Banyuls is located as close to the Spanish border as you can get. If you can get the Spanish and the French to agree on anything, it's probably chocolate. It's only natural that the wine went perfectly with the chocolate tort, the recipe of which Liz should post shortly.

Overall, the wine had a good quality-to-value ratio -- I've seen the 2003 online for about $17.00 USD. It was a welcome change from the normal LBV port I'm used to drinking with dessert.

Les Clos de Paulilles Banyuls Rimage 2005 - [Bryan's Corkd Journal]