Banyuls-sur-Mer
Banyuls-sur-Mer is an unremarkable little town, located on a very beautiful bay on France’s Mediterranean coast. It is neighbored by Cerbère, Port-Vendres, and Perpignan, and is only a short distance from Spain and Barvelona.
Banyuls-sur-Mer was first mentioned in 981 as Balneum or Balneola. It is part of French Catalonia, the Catalan-speaking and cultural territory ceded to France by Spain through the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 in exchange for France’s effective renunciation of the formal protection that it had given to the recently founded Catalan Republic
Another beautiful aspect of Banyuls is the foothills of Pyrenees mountains which rise up behind the town. I took a little tourist train up through the foothills. It was spectacularly beautiful, as it wound up through vineyards, offering wonderful vistas back over the coast.
Banyuls-sur-Mer is most well known for its wines. Banyuls is a French appellation d’origine contrôlée for a fortified apéritif or dessert wine made from old vines cultivated in terraces on the slopes of the Catalan Pyrenees in the Roussillon county of France.
Most wines are red, although some white and rosé wines are produced. Permitted grape varieties are Grenache noir (at least 50%, 75% for the Grand Cru), Grenache gris, Grenache blanc and Carignan, and also (but rarely used) Macabeu, Muscat and Malvoisie.
At the end of my little train trip, I did a little tasting. Banyuls sweet wines are pleasant enough. But I discovered that the region also makes very pleasant and good value red, rose and white still wines.