Coume del Mas was created by Philippe and Nathalie Gard in 2001. The domaine now has around 15 hectares of vines, principally on the steep slopes around Banyuls sur Mer.
Here, where the mountains meet the sea, man’s role in viticulture is paramount. No tractors can pass in the vines here; even a plough horse can’t reach the majority of our vines.
It takes a dedicated team of hardworking individuals to prune, work, tend and pick the vineyards here. The rocky soils and extreme climate of the region mean low yields – around 20hl/Ha (roughly half a bottle of wine per vine).
The local varieties (Grenache, Mourvèdre, Carignan principally) provide scope for making excellent wines full of character. Careful work in the vineyard and winery is needed to ensure balance and finesse.
We produce wines in two categories :
These are sweet wines, fortified during fermentation to leave natural residual sugar (principally fructose and glucose), with a final alcohol content of around 16%. 95% of production is a sweet red wine, a little Port-like in style, but softer and with less alcohol. The Appellation is one of the oldest in France - dating from 1936.
Appellations were created much more recently for dry wines in the area (1971 for red, 2002 for white). In this harsh climate, care is needed to produce balanced wines with freshness and energy. We strive to express the origins of these dry wines: the sun-drenched rocky terraces of the Cote Vermeille, with each of our 35 parcels adding complexity to the blends.
