The Caminades 2026 are announced for Sunday June 21st in Banyuls-sur-MerThe route will cover 9,5 kilometers and will include several tasting stops where chefs and winemakers will offer food and wine pairings.
The event offers a spectacular immersion into the vineyard of the Cote Vermeille, where each tasting station will allow visitors to discover wines from different appellations Collioure et Banyuls in their authentic setting. Note that this year, the wines of Maury are also invited to participate in this annual event.
Exploring the duality of Collioure and Banyuls
The Caminades 2026 offer the opportunity to explore a territory where the Collioure and Banyuls appellation areas perfectly overlap to form a single geographical entity. This rare situation allows visitors to encounter two distinct wine productions within the same vineyard: on one side, the still wines of Collioure , and on the other, the naturally sweet wines of Banyuls.
The Caminades 2026 route explores the interplay between these two expressions, offering a progression from terrace to terrace through the heart of the picturesque vineyard. Tasting stops will provide an opportunity to experience how the same geological and climatic foundation can give rise to complementary winemaking methods. Set to the rhythm of culinary pairings and musical entertainment, the tastings will reveal a timeless cultural value.
A schist vineyard overlooking the Mediterranean
The slopes of the Côte Vermeille are shaped by one of the most unique wine-growing regions in southern France. The vines are planted on schist terraces that plunge down towards the sea, sometimes on vertiginous inclines. This challenging terrain profoundly influences cultivation practices, as well as the expression of the wines, shaped by the effects of soil, climate, and topography.
The maritime exposure, the solar reflection, and the minerality of the schist create a demanding environment. It is precisely this constraint, with which people have had to contend since antiquity, that has shaped the profile of the wines produced by this terroir. The Caminades , rising from terrace to terrace, offer a physical experience of the reality of a hillside vineyard. They provide a tangible encounter with the lives of the winemakers, quite different from picturesque depictions.
Collioure and Banyuls: two wine worlds
The distinction between the Collioure and Banyuls appellations rests on a clear divergence in their winemaking approaches. Where Collioure explores the crisp and sun-drenched character of its red, white, and rosé wines , Banyuls perpetuates the tradition of naturally sweet wines with an oxidative profile, obtained through fortification and the flavorful preservation of some of the grape's sugars.
In the glass, this technical distinction produces immediate and noticeable effects . It also involves a confrontation with very different temporalities , particularly in the methods of aging and the resulting flavor profiles. The territory thus reveals itself as an open-air experimental space, where oenological choices unfold all possible expressions of a single terroir where Grenache is the dominant grape variety.
Banyuls PDO: the art of tasting a concentrate of heritage
The Banyuls AOP belongs to the old circle of historical French appellations. Its identity is inseparable from the geographical singularities of Roussillon and the vernacular winemaking practices that have long been established there.
Today, Banyuls wines evoke a wide spectrum of gustatory emotions, ranging from the immediate and fruity expressions of Banyuls Rimage to more evolved profiles, marked by extended aging in an oxidative environment. It is at the pinnacle of these variations that enthusiasts will encounter the captivating complexity of Banyuls Grand Cru . This stylistic breadth, stemming from a wine-growing landscape of high heritage value, partly explains the appellation's unique place within the French wine world.
The Caminades, organised as part of the ninetieth anniversary of the Banyuls PDO, require prior booking.