Tag Archives: Bandol

Mourvèdre Monday #28: Bandol Rosé

With spring just around the corner, my pick for this Mourvèdre Monday is a lovely little Bandol rosé. Bandol, located within Provence, is France’s only wine region where Mourvèdre is the dominant grape. In other words, heaven. I couldn’t find the exact varietal composition of this bottle, but the Bandol AOC regulations require at least 50% Mourvèdre in its red and rosé wines (the rest most often Grenache and/or Cinsault).

Château des Baumelles 2010 Bandol Rosé

The gorgeous coral pink color of this wine entices before the first sniff. Citrus and red fruit drive the nose and palate, with a nice mineral core and plenty of twangy, bright acidity. In fact, one might just call it lip-smackingly good. I wish I had more of this for the Austin spring/summer ahead. If you see some, grab it. Around $18-20. VINEgeek Approved.

 

Mourvèdre Roundup: February 2013

It’s the first #MourvedreMonday of the month, so here’s a roundup of Mourvèdre-related interestingness from the past month: February, the dwarf month. (I wonder if someday, February will be downgraded from full month status to “dwarf”, like poor ole Pluto.)

It’s intensely-flavoured, velvety wine, with aromas that subliminally hint at 6B pencils, Parade Gloss boot polish, and freshly-polished horse tack.  Its fruits are somewhere between the rooty-fruity fragrance of borscht – cool beetroot soup with yoghurt – and the meaty twang of blueberry.  Its flavours are somewhere between those fleeting notions, inked with the reek of times and tastes past: it’s nostalgic stuff, with soft tannins that remind me of the grainy images in old movies.  It’s never heavy, jammy, or gloopy. It’s the sort of red I can drink in the morning, without food, just for its powerful memory triggers.  I could have it instead of lunch, or with some, in which instance Wah Hing tea-smoked duck comes immediately to mind.  I could have it in the afternoon, with or without Alison Paxton’s exquisite Kangarilla Creamery goat cheese from next door, and then, come to think of it, I could have it with dinner, with dribbly lamb cutlets and mash.  In other words,  I recommend it.  Trust Unca Phil.

  • The Reverse Wine Snob tasted and liked the Tarima 2011 Monastrell, a $5.99 Costco find.
  • The March 31, 2013 Wine Spectator failed to call out a single varietal Mourvèdre in it’s annual California Rhone review. The full listing of 600+ wines with scores is available here. The highest scoring varietal Mourvèdre — if you’re into scores, that is — is the Cypher Mourvèdre Paso Robles El Pelon 2009 (90, $55). They made up for mostly snubbing Mourvèdre by running a Domaine Tempier/Bandol feature in the same issue. (I’ll not link to it because it’s behind a paywall.)
  • Speaking of Bandol, La Vigne reports that 4 hectares of Bandol AOC vineyard land is threatened by construction of a new stadium (unless my French is even weaker than I thought).

We can’t end on that note, so I’ll have to sneak back into the end of January for this…

Mourvèdre Monday #22: Domaine La Suffrène 2005 Bandol

I’ve been meaning to devote more attention to Bandol in the Mourvèdre Monday series. Bandol, after all, is the only appellation in France where Mourvèdre is the top dog grape (it must be a minimum of 50% of the blend).

So I was very excited when I was recently followed on Twitter by @BandolWines and subsequently discovered that they’re a Bandol importer based in nearby Houston. Soon after we connected via Twitter, I got the chance to meet Amine Matta, who was pouring three wines from Domain La Suffrene at the Austin Wine Merchant: a fresh, crisp appley white (from Clairette and Ugni Blanc), a nice minerally rosé and the red reviewed below. (Tasting notes based on a full bottle I purchased and drank later.) I’m looking forward to tasting through the as much of their portfolio as I can eventually!

Domaine La Suffrène 2005 Bandol

Producer: Domaine La Suffrène

Grapes: 55% Mourvèdre, 20% Grenache, 15% Cinsault, 10% old-vine Carignan

Appellation: Bandol (AOC, France)

Vineyards: “sandy-silt-laden, calcareous and clay” soils

Vintage: 2005

Winemaking: 18 months in oak (% new unknown)

Alcohol: I failed to note it.

Price: I paid around $30 at Austin Wine Merchant

Tasting notes: On the nose, there is a spicy, black pepper layer on top of the red fruit (berries and maybe some plum). A definite whiff of horse stable on the nose, but a nice clean horse stable, like the ones with the clydesdales at Busch Gardens and SeaWorld. On the palate, it has good dark fruit, but it’s strength for me is in its leathery, savory, earthy qualities. A wine for contemplation, not quaffing.

Overall impression: A real winner for me. B+

Free association: I picture Dumbledore drinking this in his office after a long day battling office politics at Hogwarts.

Mourvèdre Monday #7: Gros’Noré 2006 Bandol

Through six weeks of the Mourvèdre Monday series, one would be pardoned for wondering why I didn’t name it Monastrell Monday, as four of the first six wines were from Spain, where Monastrell is the name for this grape. Finally, in week 7, we make it to Bandol. This is the most important region for Mourvèdre in France. Really, it’s the only AOC where it plays a dominant role. So let’s see what Bandol brings to the table.

Producer: Domaine du Gros’Noré

Grapes: 80% Mourvèdre, 15% Grenache, 5% Cinsault

Appellation: Bandol (AOC, France)

Vineyards: Hillside vineyards with clay soil and 20 year-old vines.

Vintage: 2006

Winemaking: This wine spent 18 months in big ol’ 60 hl foudres. A foudre is a large oak cask. Sixty hectoliters is about 25 times bigger than a typical 225 liter Bordeaux-style barrique, which the common size for many wineries, New World and Old, that are trying to impart significant oak character.

Alcohol: 15%

Price: $34.40 at Spec’s in Austin

My tasting notes: Kirsch and Chambord on the nose with scrubby, herbal notes and a touch of meatiness. Intensity and structure on the palate. Red fruit and spice. Firm, dry tannins. Good earthy, mineral finish with solid acidity. There is a bit of grittiness to the texture (it’s unfiltered). The 15% alcohol definitely shows at the end, but it sort of reinforces the overall manly-man character of this wine.

Overall impression: This is not elegant stuff. This is Fight Club. This is Braveheart. This is the wine I’d want to drink before storming the castle. (I really hope that’s not a euphemism for some sexual act.) It’s a big, badass Bandol. B/B+

Free association:

More info:

Imported by Kermit Lynch.

A great post at Under the Grape Tree pairing this wine with a bluesman I wasn’t familiar with: Otis Taylor.

I almost went with this for free association: