Domaine Tempier Bandol Rose 2014
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Sourced from hand harvested grapes, this wine is made 50% by saignee and 50% by direct press.
Blend: 55% Mourvedre, 25% Grenache, 20% Cinsault
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
The classic Provence trio of Cinsault, Carignan and Grenache are given extra weight with Mourvèdre, resulting in a wine with great weight, structure and lovely fresh, crisp red fruit. Try this with garlic-roasted lamb.
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Wine Spectator
Bright and high-pitched, this features a talc note that gives way to rosemary and white cherry hints, while the finish races along with sea salt and blood orange details. Long, chiseled and pure. A delicious rosé that should unwind further with some cellaring.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Domaine Tempier's 2014 Bandol Rose continue to show why it's considered one of the best rosés in the world. Made with a hefty chunky of Mourvedre, it offers beautifully crisp and precise notes of orange blossom, crushed rock, mineral water and white flower that flow seamlessly to a medium-bodied, balanced, lively and fresh style on the palate. While this doesn't have the heft of sheer fruit of a top Tavel, it has more tension and focus, and I suspect it will put on weight with another 3-4 months in bottle. In short, it's a beautiful Bandol rosé that delivers everything you could want from a rosé. It has the juiciness and freshness to drink nicely on its own or at the start of a meal, as well as the complexity and depth to handle any number of richer foods.
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Bandol is a small appellation on the Mediterranean, granted AOC status in 1941. For centuries it has produced some of the longest-lived wines in France, using primarily the Mourvedre grape. Wines from this region have unique aromatic properties which many claim come from the dry Provencal herbs which cover the hillsides: thyme, savory, rosemary, wild mint and fennel.
Domaine Tempier's rose, considered to by many to be the finest in France, is fuller and creamier on the palate and shows dimensions not often found in rose. Perhaps the addition of young Mourvedre is responsible, or the Peyraud's allowance for the wine to follow its natural inclination and complete malolactic fermentation.
Whether it’s playful and fun or savory and serious, most rosé today is not your grandmother’s White Zinfandel, though that category remains strong. Pink wine has recently become quite trendy, and this time around it’s commonly quite dry. Since the pigment in red wines comes from keeping fermenting juice in contact with the grape skins for an extended period, it follows that a pink wine can be made using just a brief period of skin contact—usually just a couple of days. The resulting color depends on grape variety and winemaking style, ranging from pale salmon to deep magenta.
More than just a European vacation hotspot and rosé capital of the world, Provence, in southeastern France, is a coastal appellation producing interesting wines of all colors. The warm, breezy Mediterranean climate is ideal for grape growing and the diverse terrain and soil types allow for a variety of wine styles within the region. Adjacent to the Rhône Valley, Provence shares some characteristics with this northwestern neighbor—namely, the fierce mistral wind and the plentiful wild herbs (such as rosemary, lavender, juniper and thyme) often referred to as garrigue. The largest appellation here is Côtes de Provence, followed by Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence.
Provence is internationally acclaimed for dry, refreshing, pale-hued rosé wines, which make up the vast majority of the region’s production. These are typically blends, often dominated by Mourvèdre and supplemented by Grenache, Cinsault, Tibouren and other varieties.
A small amount of full-bodied, herbal white wine is made here—particularly from the Cassis appellation, of Clairette and Marsanne. Other white varieties used throughout Provence include Roussane, Sémillon, Vermentino (known locally as Rolle) and Ugni Blanc.
Perhaps the most interesting wines of the region, however, are the red wines of Bandol. Predominantly Mourvèdre, these are powerful, structured, and ageworthy wines with lush berry fruit and savory characteristics of earth and spice.