Domaine Carterole, "A Tatat" 2021

A mentee of Alain Castex and co-conspirator of Bruno Duchene & the collective Tutti Frutti Ananas, you could say Joachim Roque of Domaine Carterole is in good company; this would be to miss the forest for the trees. He is at the heart of the modern movement in the Banyuls, one of the originals seeking out organic cultivation of insanely-difficultly worked terraces above Collioure & Saint Andre, in French Catalonia. For nearly 15 years he has bounced around primarily as a grape grower at some of the more important plots in this area, including the famed Casot des Mailloles. He started vinifying his own wines from plots around Collioure (his hometown) & increasingly Saint André around 2014 with the help of Bruno Duchene. It's all a part of the collaborative spirit of the rogue, likeminded organic+ natural winegrowers of the Banyuls -- for example, only 60% of the grapes Joachim himself farms goes into the production of Domaine Carterole. The rest are split somewhere between Tutti Frutti Ananas and Bruno Duchene. One of the ideological originals of the region  making fresh wines from vines around his hometown. 

Banyuls, France. This is a spry Summer red made from Carignan, Grenache Noir, Blanc & Gris. Cofermented with wild yeasts and bottled unfined, unfiltered, with no additional SO2.