Domaine Danjou Banessy - Les Myrs 2024
Domaine Danjou-Banessy is one of the major estates of contemporary Roussillon, located in Espira-de-l’Agly, in the heart of the Agly valley. Benoît and Sébastien Danjou continue a family story by giving the Catalan terroirs a precise, lively, and deeply place-attached interpretation. The estate works parcels marked by a great diversity of soils, between schists, marls, limestones, clays, and more draining terroirs. This mosaic allows the production of wines with a strong identity, always built around freshness, tension, and the sincerity of the fruit. Les Myrs holds a unique place in the range, as this cuvée highlights Carignan, the historic grape variety of Roussillon, on a dark and mineral terroir of the Terres Noires. The 2024 vintage fits into this search for balance between Mediterranean depth, infusion finesse, and mineral energy. Domaine Danjou-Banessy Les Myrs 2024 thus presents itself as a great Catalan red with character, both wild, elegant, and intensely rooted.
The Les Myrs 2024 cuvée is made from 100% Carignan, coming from old vines located at the place called Les Myrs, in the Terres Noires sector in Espira-de-l’Agly. This terroir combines black schists, marls, and a limestone component that enhances the tension, depth, and aromatic complexity of the wine. Carignan finds here a particularly noble expression ground, far from the rustic or simply sunny wines to which the grape variety has sometimes been associated. The old vines naturally provide concentrated matter, but the Danjou-Banessy style favors length, precision, and delicacy of textures. Specialized sources generally describe the estate’s reds as worked with long but lightly marked aging, in a search for patina without makeup. Les Myrs 2024 should thus express a deep, straight, and tense Carignan, supported by a dark minerality and a structure for aging. This cuvée ideally requires aeration in its youth to fully reveal its relief and complexity.
On tasting, Domaine Danjou-Banessy Les Myrs 2024 shows a deep, dense, and shiny red robe with dark reflections. The nose may evoke blueberry, blackberry, black cherry, violet, pepper, dry spices, flint, and a smoky touch linked to the schists. On the palate, the wine is concentrated but straight, with serious matter, fine tannins, and freshness that stretches the whole. Carignan brings a tangy energy, a spicy framework, and depth that give the wine a lot of relief. The finish is long, mineral, and slightly saline, marked by black fruits, spices, and a sensation of warm rock. This Roussillon red will ideally accompany roasted lamb, a matured rib of beef, spiced duck, Catalan stew, a Mediterranean vegetable ragout, or mushroom cuisine. It can be enjoyed after decanting, but its balance and structure will also allow it to evolve for several years in the cellar.
Grape variety: 100% Carignan
