Collioure AOC - Viticulture and Winemaking

Viticulture and Winemaking

Many producers in Collioure also produce wines under the Banyuls label, which tends to have more prestige and fetch a higher price on the international wine market. The nature of the vintage will usually determine what percentage of Collioure grapes are used Banyuls and what percentage will remain Collioure. When grapes are destined to become Collioure they are usually harvested a couple weeks earlier than the grapes that are destined to be fortified. This is because the warm climate of the region causes grape sugars to rise as acids in the grapes drastically fall. While fortified wines value the high percentage of residual sugar from very ripe grapes, non-fortified wines need more of the balance from the remaining acids. Often, though, winemakers will still need to add additional acids such as tartaric acid in a process known as acidification. In a typical vintage about one-third of the grapes harvested in the region will be used for Collioure AOC labeled wines.

Grapevines in Collioure are trained in as "bush vines" which, along with vine's age, contributes to the very low yields of Collioure. In fact, the yields from this area are often among the lowest in France-often lower than the AOC maximum of 2.3 tones per acre (40 hectoliters per hectare). Wines produced in Collioure also must not rise above a maximum alcohol level of 15% (min 12% for red, 11.5% for rose and whites)and residual sugar level of 5 grams per liter. This low sugar levels means that all wines from Collioure are technically dry wines but to wine drinkers they may perceive "sweetness" due to the very high levels of ripeness the grapes attain in the warm climate of the region.