Walls: Domaine Danjou-Banessy, rising star of Roussillon

Languedoc-Roussillon: two words, three syllables each. You’d be forgiven for assuming some kind of parity. But Roussillon makes only about 5% as much wine as Languedoc.

Take a walk around Perpignan, just 10km from the Mediterranean and 20km from the Spanish border, and you’ll sooner spot the blood-and-gold stripes of the Senyera than the French tricolour. Street signs offer both Catalan and French names. Many locals believe Roussillon is more naturally grouped with Penedès and Priorat than Pic-St-Loup and Picpoul de Pinet.

Ask wine lovers to name the greatest estate in Languedoc and Mas de Daumas Gassac will undoubtedly feature. But what about Roussillon? Not so obvious, but there’s one producer that I would suggest without hesitation – Domaine Danjou-Banessy.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 10 Domaine Danjou-Banessy wines

A singular estate

Travel eastwards along the Mediterranean coast from Roussillon and Languedoc and you reach the southern Rhône. The pinnacle of wine here? Château Rayas is the main contender. In fact, when I first tasted bottles from Danjou-Banessy, it was the wines of master winemaker Emmanuel Reynaud that sprang to mind.

Now comparing the greatest estate of Châteauneuf-du-Pape with a relatively unknown Roussillon domaine might raise some eyebrows; but let me explain. Like Rayas, Danjou-Banessy’s wines are not only brilliant, but they are stylistically unlike anything made by their neighbours.

Both producers make wines of tremendous personality. Not always faultless, polished or perfect – but always exciting, fascinating and memorable. They share similarly extreme climates but make wines with delicacy. ‘Our aim is to make fine wines,’ says Sébastien Danjou, one of two brothers who run the domaine, ‘even if we have a hot and dry climate, you don’t have to make something violent or brutal.’

There are even similarities in the way both domaine’s work. Both use whole-bunch fermentation and shy away from new oak. Rather than rigorous extraction, both opt for gentle infusion. ‘Extraction is very important in northern areas,’ says Sébastien, such as Burgundy, ‘but we have lots of sun, so it’s not needed.’ His brother Benoît adds: ‘we work on concentration not in the cellar but in the vineyard.’

Ancient vineyards

Old vines help them to achieve this concentration; and by ‘old’ they mean between 60-120 years. They don’t know how far back their family roots go here in the Agly Valley, but ‘my grandfather used to talk about his grandfather in the vines,’ says Benoît. He’s the younger of the two brothers, enthusiastic and funny; Sébastien was a teacher before joining the estate, and still has a professorial presence.

They aim to have three ages of vines for each soil type: old vines, middle-aged, and young, as well as fallow areas for the land to recover. The domaine is certified organic, and they use biodynamic methods where practicable.

Depending on the cuvée, they’re happy to blend across vine age and varieties – but not soil type. ‘We can’t blend slate with limestone or clay,’ says Benoît, ‘because slate soil gives a different taste to clay and limestone.’

The wines

The cuvée Estaca – one of my wines of the year in 2023 – is pure Grenache planted on black marl. The Cinsault of cuvée Espurna is planted next to it. I have only once tasted French Cinsault this good – grown by Emmanuel Reynaud, part of the blend for Château de Fonsalette.

Les Mirandes is a herbal, mentholated Syrah of unusual pungency. Les Myrs is very old Carignan grown on slate. There are many fine examples of this underrated variety grown in Roussillon, and this one is particularly delicate and compelling.

As with Grenache, Carignan grapes come in three colours – noir, gris and blanc. La Truffière blanc is pure Carignan Gris, a grape the brothers love for its bright acidity. Clos des Escounils is a white made from all three colours of Grenache. Coste is a pure Macabeu, another Roussillon speciality, here producing a light, fresh and stony white.

One question that remains for me is this. Considering this is the hottest wine region in mainland France, how are the alcohols so mild? Whites range from 12% to 12.5%; reds from 12.5% to 13.5%. Sébastien says they’re not even the first to pick; as with Rayas, some mysteries remain.

Any comparison with the wines of Reynaud can only go so far; both he and the Danjou-Banessy brothers are firmly rooted in their own local cultures after all. But those seeking the finest expressions of Mediterranean grapes, especially Grenache, will find much to love in both.

10 fabulous wines from Domaine Danjou-Banessy:

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Matt Walls is an award-winning freelance wine writer and consultant, contributing regular articles to various print and online titles including Decanter, where he is a contributing editor. He has particular interest in the Rhône Valley; he is chair of the Rhône panel at the Decanter World Wine Awards and is the owner of travel and events company www.rhoneroots.com.

Walls: Domaine Danjou-Banessy, rising star of Roussillon