Tutti Frutti Ananas "Nespola"

Grapes: Vermentino + Grenache Blanc

Region: Banyuls sur Mer, Roussillon, France

Vintage: 2022

Viticulture: Organic

Soils: Schist

Vinification: Whole bunches of Vermentino are infused in the fermenting juice of Grenache Blanc for two weeks

Aging: 6-9 months in tank + concrete

Fining or Filtering: None

Sulfur: None added

Notes from the Importer: Tutti Frutti Ananas is a collaborative project between three vignerons in Collioure and Banyuls: Manuel di Vecchi Staraz of Vinyer de la Ruca, Zé Tafé of La Cave des Nomades and Joachim Roque of Domaine Carterole. As the three produce very limited quantities of wine from their respective estates (the steep schist hills of Collioure/Banyuls are notoriously low-yielding), the goal of the project is to make a more approachable expression of these terroirs.

The idea came about when Joachim, local to the area and whose family has worked for years with the cave cooperative, retrieved an additional eight hectares of vines. Rather than entering them into the coop, he proposed to his friends to start a new venture. Unlike the vines they work for their estates, these are in "the plain" (it's still very steep, just not terraced) and can be worked mechanically. The soils, decomposed schists, quartz and sand, are also slightly higher yielding than the traditional terraced vineyards on pure schist. Manuel and Zé also contribute fruit from their higher yielding parcels and Manuel is in charge of the vinifications.

The hodgepodge name is inspired by the collaborator's diverse backgrounds: Manu is Italian, Zé Portuguese and Joachim French, though he would consider himself
Catalan. In such, all the wines bear the names of fruits in their native tongues of Italian, Portuguese and Catalan. They are fermented naturally and bottled unfiltered with little to no sulfur added only at bottling. The wine's label clearly indicates if S02 was used or no.