Bandol

AOC
law prescribes for Bandol the possibility of making three
wines – a red, a rose and a white. Bandol producers,
however, have always been defiantly red in the midst of a
world conveniently pink. This small Provence appellation
perched on the Mediterranean coast specializes in hearty and
tannic red Mourvedre-based wines. A glass of Bandol red on a
sizzling hot summer afternoon is a head-on collision. The
locals and holiday clientele slake their summer thirst with
invigorating Bandol rose or dip a glass into the ocean of
Cotes de Provence rose. During a recent trip to Bandol, I
discovered that Bandol producers consider the growing
popularity of Bandol Rose a mixed blessing. They are selling
more and more rose while Bandol red, the source of their
identity and fame, is becoming more difficult to sell. About
sixty-six percent of Bandol wines produced are rose, an
embarrassingly large amount for an appellation whose raison
d’etre is red.

Bandol’s
decision to stake its reputation on Mourvedre-based red
wines dates back to the 193Os when Lucien Peyraud, owner of
a small wine farm, Domaine Tempier, emboldened about 1O
owners of local vineyards to do something that on the
surface seemed foolish.

Before the
193Os, Provence had been a place where the French from
France’s north came to escape the winter cold. The red wines
traditional to Provence were good companions for these cool
winter days. During the 193Os, Provence made the transition
from being a winter resort to a summer one. The waves of
vacationers asked for refreshing wine. Local farmers
responded by using their red grapes to make rose instead of
red wine.

Peyraud,
however, wanted to do something more than fulfill local
requests for quaffing wine. He pointed out that Mourvedre
had been common in the Bandol area before phylloxera
infestation arrived in the late 19th century. When grafting
onto American roots was identified as the solution to
phylloxera, the locals replanted their vineyards with
easier-to-ripen and easier-to-vinify varieties particularly
Cinsault and Grenache. Mourvedre became a minor, even an
endangered, variety in the Bandol area. Peyraud, however,
wanted Bandol to stand apart from the rest of Provence by
making great red wine. He exhorted his Bandol friends to
replant Mourvedre and to use as much of it as they could in
their red wine blends. It would be their opportunity to do
something special and something different.

In 1941, Bandol
became one of the very first AOCs. France’s post war boom,
the continued popularity of Provence and the increasing
prestige of French cuisine helped support the growth of
Bandol wines. It took longer for Bandol to be recognized
outside of Provence. Key were the efforts of US importer
Kermit Lynch who wrote about Lucien Peyraud in his
“Adventures on the Wine Route” and who imported Domaine
Tempier into the United States. Also important was Alice
Waters, owner-chef of Chez Panisse restaurant in California,
who championed Provence cuisine and the Domaine Tempier
wines. Culinary pilgrims of the 198Os put a visit to Domaine
Tempier and the Peyraud dinner table high on their list. As
a result of the growing popularity of Bandol red wines, land
dedicated to Mourvedre vines increased dramatically during
the 197Os and 198Os.

Growing
Mourvedre is not easy. Mourvedre may be the latest ripening
winegrape variety on the planet. The saying is that the
vines must “see” the Mediterranean in order to ripen. The
Bandol appellation, which comprises hilly land around seven
villages circling the small port of Bandol, gives Mourvedre
its needed panorama. The climate can ripen Mourvedre almost
every year, but it requires farmers to wait and wait and
wait. Grenache and Cinsault, which are planted commonly all
over Provence, ripen easily in September. Mourvedre ripens
in rain-storm vulnerable October. Mourvedre makes its best
wine in the cool and moist rocky, clay-limestone soil of
Bandol’s hilly areas. In valley floor vineyards, Vins de
Pays and Cotes de Provence wines can be made, but not
Bandol. The clay content of the best soils necessitates
that, during dry periods, the vineyard surface be cultivated
so that cracks do not increase in dimension. It rarely rains
in Bandol during the summer. Along the Provence coastline,
soils like Bandol’s are rare. For example, east of Toulon
there is a sandy, mica-schist soil that is dry and warm.
There Mourvedre makes lighter weight Cotes de Provence red
wines, as well as roses that are notable for their finesse,
lightness and minerality. Bandol is the perfect spot on the
French Riviera coastline for Mourvedre red wines of
substance.

Neither is
vinifying Mourvedre simple. With respect to rose production,
the Grenache and Cinsault harvests are so close together
that they can be vinified together. Mourvedre must be
handled separately. Appellation laws require Mourvedre vines
to be at least 8-years-old before they can be used for red
wine production. Between 4- to 8-years-old, the production
can be used for rose. This is one source of Mourvedre juice
for rose production. Another source is the bleeding off of
juice from musts destined for red wine production. Bleeding
off, called saignee in French, heightens the color and
structure of the red wines while creating rose wine as a
by-product. In appearance, Bandol roses are distinctly more
transparent than Tavel rose. Bandol roses are usually pale
salmon. Cotes de Provence roses exhibit much greater
variation in hue and intensity of color.

With respect to
red wine production, Mourvedre wines have a tendency,
particularly in their youth, to show reductive aromas.
Reduction can lead to wines that smell of leather and
manure. This makes it dangerous to oversulfite the wines. On
the other hand, sulfiting can prevent microbial infections
that result in gamey smells. Most producers mature their
Bandol reds in old barrels. These older barrels can harbor
microbial populations that are nicely kept in check by
sulfite additions. Mourvedre’s distinguishing characteristic
is its richness in tannin, tannin that with bottle age
provides a complex, long-lasting, drying finish. Mourvedre
wine typically is low in acidity. Acidity would help balance
the high alcoholic content of Bandol red wines.

Climate change
complicates red wine production. Cyrille Portalis of Chateau
Pradeaux reported that within his more than 2O years at
Chateau Pradeaux, harvest dates have advanced 2O days. The
reasons are increased heat and dryness. The last four years
have been very dry. When I arrived in Bandol in
mid-September, there had not been significant rain for 15
months. Only the vines were green. (Luckily for Bandol, but
not for me, it rained heavily towards the end of my stay.)
Unfortunately, heat and dryness quickly drive up the sugar
concentration in the pulp much faster than the pips and
skins mature physiologically. In order to make great Bandol
red, it is essential to wait for Mourvedre pip and skin
maturity. Otherwise the wines are bitter and rustic on the
palate. As one waits for the pips and skins to mature, sugar
content increases in the pulp. As a consequence, modern
Bandol wines contain about 15% alcohol. The high alcohol
results in more thorough extraction. Jean-Luc Dumoutier of
Domaine de L’Olivette reported, “In the last few years,
particularly the last three, I have done less maceration.
Now I am afraid of over extraction.” Restoring freshness and
drinkability to Bandol reds is a concern of many producers.
JB Dutheil de la Rochere of Domaine Ste. Anne credited
northwest expositions with keeping the domaine’s wines
fresh. Reynald Delille of Domaine de Terrebrune asserted
that his terroir in Ollioules naturally produces more
harmonious, less brawny wines. His 2OO3 Bandol, an unusually
hot vintage characterized by high alcohol wines, proved his
point. It was the easiest-to-drink and softest 2OO3 Bandol
that I tasted during my stay. A more radical solution has
been by Guillaume Tari of Domaine de la Begude. His
vineyards sit at 4OO meters above sea level, higher than all
others in the appellation, yet his Mourvedre vines still
gaze on the Mediterranean. He gets lower alcohol and higher
acidity yet the same degree physiologic ripeness as
producers at lower elevations. A Begude 2OOO Rose that I
tasted was lively and fresh. So were Tari’s 1998 Bandol and
the 2OO1 La Brulade Bandol.

Another threat
to Bandol producers are developers of holiday homes who can
offer them more money for their land than they could ever
hope to make in terms of wine sales. Bandol producers are
family owned estates who live and work on the land they own.
The only exception is the Ott estate, which a few years ago
was sold to Roederer. Bandol families wonder if their
children will want to stay on the land. The French
government also threatens. It has taken away land by eminent
domain in order to secure a pathway for the future TGV line
to Nice. Now there is a big fight about it.

After the
formative period of the Bandol appellation, producers had
split into two associations, one called the “producers”
association and the other the “domaine” association. Each
organization has a wine shop where the members’ wines are
sold to the public. In the last few years, all the producers
have united in one organization, the Association “Les Vins
de Bandol”. This organization now occupies new
administrative offices and visitor’s center. In the future,
it will open up a large shop for the sale of all Bandol wine
products. This organization operates independently of the
CIVP, an interprofessional association that represents the
other appellations in Provence.

Bandol producers
are trying to remain faithful to the vision and
determination of their parents who set Bandol on an unlikely
but ultimately successful path: to become the premier red
wine producing appellation of Provence. They face many
challenges. Mourvedre’s difficult personality, climate
change and euro-waving developers. Though Bandol rose is a
good cash crop, Bandol producers do not strongly identify
with the wine nor do they seem to have that much affection
for it. Perhaps the increasing popularity and fame of Bandol
rose is another threat.

During my recent
trip to Bandol, I tasted white, rose and red Bandol wines. I
found the white wines lacked a clearly defined appellation
profile. With increasing focus on Clairette, a profile might
come into focus. The roses, too, lacked a clear profile. I
was told that Bandol roses were wines that needed time to
evolve and were best served with cuisine. I am not yet
convinced. The 2OO5 wines I tasted either on one hand harked
to the fresh light fermentative style of Cotes de Provence
or, on the other, were more solid, structured and dull.
Bandol roses do not excite me – Bandol reds do. Style and
character of the reds differed from producer to producer,
but all the wines expressed a common ethos. Among the reds,
I tasted three wines from the great 2OOO vintage which
showed me that the dreams of Lucien Peyraud and his band had
been attained. They were the La Tour du Bon, the Domaine
Bastide Blanche, Cuvee Fontaneou, and the Domaine
Lafran-Veyrolles, Cuvee Speciale.

One 2OO4, the
Les Lauves from Domaine La Suffrene, stood out in my various
tastings at domains.