Chateau de Pibarnon Bandol Rouge 2010
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Robert
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Moving to the classic cuvee and even more impressive (it was one of the top wines I was able to taste for this report), the 2010 Bandol, which is over 90% Mourvedre, sees partial destemming and aging in oak casks, offers both gorgeous aromatic complexity and superb richness and depth on the palate. Giving up notions of pepper, Provencal herbs, underbrush and leather, with a solid core of dark fruit, this medium to full-bodied, pure, layered and beautifully balanced effort needs another 2-3 years of bottle age, and will easily keep for a decade or more past that. Run by the Saint-Victor family since 1975, Chateau Pibarnon lies in the northern part of the appellation and consists of steep, terraced slopes and unique blue marl and limestone soils. The wines are gorgeous and offer classic examples of the appellation.
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The source of the refinement and elegance of Chateau de Pibarnon's wines lies in the estate's captivating vineyards, which overlook the Mediterranean Sea in the appellation of Bandol, in Provence.
A thick-skinned black grape, Mourvèdre has found its favourite soils in the sunny Bandol appellation. Some 3,000 hours of sunshine a year perfectly suit this slow-ripening grape. Rarely found in other cooler French vineyards, Mourvèdre brings harmony, elegance and an amazing ageing capacity to the red and rosé wines of sunny Bandol.
The Bandol region was essentially undiscovered when Catherine and Henri de Saint Victor purchased Pibarnon in the late 1970s. Recognizing the region’s potential, this visionary couple worked tirelessly for some 30 years, landscaping and crafting ever better wines.
By the 1990s, Pibarnon was making the region’s top red and rosé wines, a status today maintained under their son, Eric de Saint Victor, today the estate's winemaker.
Full of ripe fruit, and robust, earthy goodness, Mourvèdre is actually of Spanish provenance, where it still goes by the name Monastrell or Mataro. It is better associated however, with the Red Blends of the Rhône, namely Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Mourvèdre shines on its own in Bandol and is popular both as a single varietal wine in blends in the New World regions of Australia, California and Washington. Somm Secret—While Mourvèdre has been in California for many years, it didn’t gain momentum until the 1980s when a group of California winemakers inspired by the wines of the Rhône Valley finally began to renew a focus on it.
Provence’s leader in concentrated and age-worthy red wines, Bandol is home to the dense, deep and earthy Mourvèdre grape. Like Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Bandol produces characterful reds that, while approachable in their youth, are typically designed for the cellar.
Given its coastal, Provencal situation, Bandol also naturally produces an assortment of charming, aromatic rosés made of Mourvèdre, Grenache and Cinsault.