In the vines at Danjou-Bannesy (Courtesy of Michel Joly/Grand Cru Selections)

Wines You Should Be Drinking

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If you have never heard of Domaine Danjou-Bannessy, you are in good company. These are wines that don't get the attention they deserve. Located in the hills of the Roussillon, a few miles drive from both the Mediterranean and the Spanish border, Sebastien and Benoit Danjou are farming some of the very best wines you've never had the chance to taste.

The Danjou family has been in the region for hundreds of years, tending to vineyards planted with Carignan and Carignan Gris, Grenache and Grenache Blanc, Macabeu and Muscat of Alexandria. There is an incredible diversity of soil, from beds of river stones that will look extremely familiar to lovers of Chateauneuf du Pape to soils of old broken-down schist so black you would think there was oil in it. The vines are invariably very old - there is a parcel of Cinsault that dates to the turn of the twentieth century.

And then there is the vineyard work. When Sebastien and Benoit took over the estate more than twenty years ago, they set about making a series of epochal changes. They started by converting first to organic viticulture and then to biodynamics. They have reduced plowing to an event that happens only on rare occasions, while sowing an incredibly diverse cover crop that includes peas, radishes and alliums. Sheep graze the vineyards in winter and they have gone to great lengths to plant both fruit trees and cypress, seeking as biodiverse an environment as they can provide.

Lastly, they have moved from the largely sweet and fortified wines that the family made to a range of very serious dry wines (though they still make the traditional sweet wines as well). The wines today are astonishing. The reds have a lightness and elegance that one doesn't immediately expect in the south of France, while the whites are deeply mineral and with great focus and intensity.

These really are special and there are multiple vintages of nearly every wine on offer today. So take this opportunity to become acquainted with the brothers Danjou and their extraordinary work. As a little extra incentive, buy any six here and receive the case discount of 10% off!

Sam Ehrlich

Danjou-Banessy 2019 Cotes Catalanes Rouge la Truffiere

Carignan and Grenache Noir, between sixty and eighty years old. Planted in black slate-rich soils and aged two years in barrel. The brightest of the three vintages on offer here today, this shows a bit of reduction on the nose, but with air this becomes very high-toned, with red berries and flowers. There is great acidity here - this will have many years ahead of it.

  • red
  • 3 in stock
  • $49.99

  • Organic
  • Biodynamic
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Danjou-Banessy 2018 Cotes Catalanes Blanc Clos des Escounils

A blend of all the Grenaches - Blanc, Gris and Noir, from vines over 100 years old, planted in a combination of limestone and sandstone. Drect pressed and aged in old foudres for two years.

  • Out of Stock
  • white
  • 0 in stock
  • $57.99

  • Organic
  • Biodynamic

Danjou-Banessy 2019 Cotes Catalanes Blanc Clos des Escounils

A blend of all the Grenaches - Blanc, Gris and Noir, from vines over 100 years old, planted in a combination of limestone and sandstone. Drect pressed and aged in old foudres for two years.

  • Out of Stock
  • white
  • 0 in stock
  • $57.99

  • Organic
  • Biodynamic

Danjou-Banessy 2018 Cotes Catalanes Blanc La Truffiere Blanc

80-year old Carignan Gris, planted in black schist and marl over limestone. Aged two years in small older barrels.

  • Out of Stock
  • white
  • 0 in stock
  • $74.99

  • Organic
  • Biodynamic

Danjou-Banessy 2019 Cotes Catalanes Blanc La Truffiere Blanc

80-year old Carignan Gris, planted in black schist and marl over limestone. Aged two years in small older barrels.

  • Out of Stock
  • white
  • 0 in stock
  • $74.99

  • Organic
  • Biodynamic

Danjou-Banessy 2017 Cotes Catalanes Rouge la Truffiere

Carignan and Grenache Noir, between sixty and eighty years old. Planted in black slate-rich soils and aged two years in barrel. This is just an incredible wine - the 2017 has shed any sense of rusticity and is full of beautiful brambly red fruit and bright raspberry seed acidity. It's incredibly focused and earth-driven in the finish and will make a great partner at the table as we head into fall.

  • Out of Stock
  • red
  • 0 in stock
  • $49.99

  • Organic
  • Biodynamic

Danjou-Banessy 2018 Cotes Catalanes Rouge la Truffiere

Carignan and Grenache Noir, between sixty and eighty years old. Planted in black slate-rich soils and aged two years in barrel. While the 2018 has perhaps just a bit more stuffing than the 2017, it's no less beautiful. There is the same red fruit but slinkier feeling, with a little more velvet in the texture and incredibly fine tannins - almost reminiscent of REALLY GREAT Chateauneuf du Pape.

  • Out of Stock
  • red
  • 0 in stock
  • $49.99

  • Organic
  • Biodynamic
  • Out of Stock
  • red
  • 0 in stock
  • $69.99

Danjou-Banessy 2018 Cotes Catalanes Rouge Espurna

100-year old Cinsault, planted in black slate soils. Two and a half years in barrel. Impossibly beautiful wine, red and blue fruit, ethereal texture.

  • Out of Stock
  • red
  • 0 in stock
  • $112.99

  • Organic
  • Biodynamic