Domaine du Mas Blanc d’Antan Banyuls AOC Vin Doux Naturel 2008

Vin Doux Naturel (VDN) is a sweet dessert wine that is created through light fortification with a spirit, usually brandy, being added to the wine before the end of the fermentation process. These wines are generally associated with the Languedoc-Rousillonn region, and are typically made from white muscat or red grenache grapes, in both oxidized and unoxidized styles. Banyuls is considered the finest and most complex type of VDN, coming from four communes in Banyuls, one of the first AOC regions recognized in 1936 within the Languedoc-Rousillon. Banyuls Traditionnel is aged oxidatively for a minimum of five years before bottling, defined by its grace and nuance with its proximity to the sea lending a savory, smoky maritime character. Bottled in August 2017, the Banyuls d’Antan 2008 was hand-harvested and vinified in traditional fashion: foot-trodden and fermented with native yeasts in stainless-steel tanks. 100% grenache noir, it aged for 9 years in neutral chestnut barrels, which are more porous than oak, and impart structure married to a fat, exuberant, oxidative expression.