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Product information

Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé MAGNUM 2017

Rosé Blend from Bandol, Provence, France

$135

$125ea in any 3+
$115ea in any 6+
Closure: Cork
The Benchmark Rosé from Provence! Everything you'd want in a Rosé!

Description

I really couldn’t describe this one better than Mike “Pale pink gold colour. Perfume is straight away refreshing, ruby grapefruit citrus, scents of wet slate and faint ‘rose hip tea’ thing. The palate is sweet-sour cherry spectrum-flavoured with a sense of ‘tart’ but refreshing. Generally, very delicate fruit character, though some quiet complexity in lees-yeast-savoury characters too. It shows some spice and finishes fresh. An understated, fine boned style.”

55% Mourvèdre, 25% Grenache, 20% Cinsault from 20 year old vines.

Available in 750ml too!

Out of stock

Check out all of the wines by Domaine Tempier

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

About Domaine Tempier by Kermit Lynch

When Lucie “Lulu” Tempier married Lucien Peyraud in 1936, her father gave them Domaine Tempier, an active farm that had been in the family since 1834, near Le Plan du Castellet, just outside the Mediterranean seaport village of Bandol. Tasting a pre-phylloxera bottle of Domaine Tempier Bandol (a wedding gift from his father-in-law) inspired Lucien to research the terroir of Bandol extensively.  Up until that point, old vineyards planted with Mourvèdre had been systematically replanted to higher-yielding varietals. However, more research not only showed its historical roots to the area, but the grape proved to be more resistant to oxidation, producing wines with great aging potential. By 1941, with the assistance of neighboring vignerons, Lucien worked with the I.N.A.O. (Institut National des Appellations d’Origines) to establish Bandol as its own A.O.C. Needless to say, large-scale replanting of Mourvèdre ensued, and Bandol now requires a fifty percent minimum in all reds. Lucien will forever be celebrated as the Godfather of Bandol, but also as the man who revived Mourvèdre to its former glory. Raising deep and structured wines of such refinement and longevity has made Domaine Tempier truly a grand cru de Provence.

Grapes & Making from the Domaine

The grapes used to make Tempier’s rosé come from selected parcels where the vines are on average 20 years old. The yields are low, which explains the intense concentration and distinct expression of each varietal in this wine. The presence of Mourvedre gives this wine its strong character, balance and complexity. An intense fruit and floral nose make this an attractive rosé. The palate is rounded and full with fruity aromas of peach and pomegranate, followed by delicate spice notes and a pleasant freshness created by acidic balance.

The grapes are harvested by hand. In the ripening process, we aim for a hint of freshness with some acidity and slightly less alcohol than for the red wines. The harvest takes place over a one-month period from the last week of August onwards. Harvested into 30kg crates – grape selection takes place in the vineyard and in the chai (winery). After full destemming the grapes are pressed to obtain their juice and cold maceration is performed to extract the fruit aromas and achieve the desired pale colour. Vat bleeding techniques are rarely used. The wine is then vinified by the traditional method used for making white wine, with careful temperature control. The rosé is stored in concrete vats for 8 months before bottling.

The Terroir of Domaine Tempier

The three single-vineyards of Domaine Tempier are: La Migoua, La Tourtine, and Cabassaou. All are made up of clay and limestone, but there are variations in each. La Migoua is made up of heterogeneous clay that varies in colour between red, ochre, and blue. At 270 meters, it sits at the highest altitude of all the vineyards. The parcel’s complex sedimentation is largely due to the subduction of a tectonic plate which has surfaced the oldest rock outcroppings in the whole of the appellation. Surrounded by garrigue and pine forest, the grapes translate to earthy, gamey wines. La Migoua has the smallest amount of Mourvèdre in the blend, with the highest percentage of Grenache of the three cuvées. La Tourtine sits just above Cabassaou. The soil here is more homogeneous, with rich clay. La Tourtine produces powerful, tannic wines with gorgeous fruit character. Since Cabassaou sits lower on this hillside, it is protected from the strength of the Mistral, enjoying temperate breezes and maximum sunshine. There is ripeness, density and power in these wines.

Tempier’s 2017 Vintage

“No global warming? Very few winegrowers would agree, in the light of the early harvest dates. 2017 gives ample credence to the phenomenon since we ended the harvest on 12 September! In the 60s and 70s, the harvest would start around 25 September and sometimes in October. This year, once again, we started in August, on 22 August.

After the very dry 2016 vintage (320 mm of rainfall between two harvests) autumn, winter and spring saw a lot of rainfall 450 mm. Abundant rainfalls, not the Mediterranean storms, but regular rainfall. We thought the water supplies were going to be replenished!

In spring there was a cold period, almost freezing, but we were spared. On 5 April, it hailed on La Laidière and La Migoua and some buds were damaged.

As of mid-May the Mediterranean climate returned with a heat wave which boosted the vine growth, but also weeds, because of the water reserves.

As we always fear the summer drought and therefore more weeds growing between the vines, soil tilling was essential in order to air it out and to prevent the weeds from consuming water.

The end of spring and all summer were on the whole very hot and dry since there were only 35 mm of rainfall from mid-April to the end of September. The high water temperature of the sea fostered fog banks which could give rise to Oidium; we had to be very careful.

We wished to keep some freshness in our wines so we started harvesting on 22 August with grenache grapes for rosé. Given the climate conditions of the year, we had to pick fast not to let the grapes get too ripe, something we wanted to avoid. That’s why the harvest was one of the shortest in the history of the estate even though there were almost 60 ha to cover.

Fermenting is slow and the temperatures are not really increasing. Yet the wines go through different phases: they may be very hard at times only to become well-balanced at the end of the alcohol fermentation.

Our first impressions are good: the wines are fragrant and fresh, with the dominant character being delicacy. We shall confirm this with further tastings as soon as possible”.

Daniel RAVIER, October 13, 2017

Where is Bandol?

Right on the coast between Marseille and Toulon.

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