Just east of Marseille and the wonderful village of Cassis lies the rugged, sun-drenched landscape of Bandol, a French Wine Appellation where the grape varietal Mourvèdre reigns supreme. Thanks to its adjacency to the Mediterranean, Mourvèdre here can ripen fully, gaining complexity and body that We rarely experience from other regions. The name itself comes from the port town where the produce of these vineyards has been shipped out to the world for the last 200 years. Wine has been produced here since well before the Romans showed up in 125 BC, when they discovered a well-established wine industry for them to send wine back to Italy, and Roman Amphorae are found regularly scattered across the seafloor here indicating the existence of a lively wine trade!
As mentioned, Mourvèdre reigns supreme here; it loves the poor clay-limestone soil and the plentiful gravel found within. Mourvèdre in Bandol shows its true character, quality, and potential, unmatched anywhere else, including its original homeland of Spain, where it is known as Mataro and Monastrell. It is said that this grape likes to see the sea for sea breezes keep any risk of rot at bay, and the hot Provençal sunshine helps with its long ripening season, usually not sufficiently ripe until October, when most other grapes are harvested in September!
We are very proud to offer a few of the highly-coveted, wild wines of Bandol, and our most recent discovery is the gorgeously untamed Mourvedre-Grenache blend from Domaine de Frégate, whose label is an old engraving of the Port of Bandol prior to the revitalization and expansion begun in 1754. The wine itself is a sheer massive wall of Black fruits and Turkish Bay leaves on the nose that on the palate are commingled on the with velvety tannins and dark notes of brambles, Javanese coffee, and coriander with a deeper notes of cranberry-pomegranate that slowly ease away to warmer aromatics of Herbs de Provence and Black plums on the long, long, LONG finish! Glorious and limited…