Bandol 101: The Jewel of Provence

If Provence enjoys its status as a gold standard for bone-dry rosés, then Bandol would be the jewel in its crown. While Provençal rosé production stretches from Arles to Nice, Bandol occupies a measly 1,500 hectares of vineyard space blanketed around the seaside town of the same name. Bandol rosés are some of the world's longest lived, and often command a higher price than the average pink bottle. What's more, Bandol is the only corner of Provence to earn even greater renown for its structured, collectible reds. The key to Bandol's age-worthy success? Most point to the Mourvèdre grape. Bandol's terroir is particularly well suited to this quintessentially Mediterranean variety – its drought-resistant vines thrive in warm, coastal sites. France cultivates the second largest vineyard area for Mourvèdre – behind the grape's native home of Spain, where it goes by the name Monastrell . Nonetheless, Mourvèdre's greatest claim to fame is as a blending variety, a critical, but supporting player in the famous GSM (Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre) blends of the Rhône Valley. That's not the case in Bandol. Here, Mourvèdre steals the spotlight – the only appellation in France where it's granted top billing. According to Romain Bournaud, winemaker at Bastide de la Ciselette, Mourvèdre is "a grape who needs sun and water." Bandol offers that in spades. The region acts as a south-facing amphitheater, its sun-drenched slopes descending towards and moderated by the Mediterranean Sea. Most vineyards drape atop hillside terraces – locally known as "restanques." Cold winds further inland are barricaded by the Massif de la Sainte-Baume, standing just north of the appellation's boundary. For a region as condensed as Bandol, the vineyards find an astonishing breadth of soil variation. On the whole, however, Bandol's dominant soil-type oscillates between clay and limestone, the wines achieving particular length and finesse when the latter finds its greatest concentrations. All these factors prove necessary to fully ripen the Mourvèdre grape, whose growing season can endure long into the autumn. Historically, it has proven a tremendous challenge to cultivate Mourvèdre of excellence in more northerly regions. That may no longer be the case, and in the process, Bandol – whose vines already strike the fine balance between struggle and survival – faces new obstacles. According to Daniel Ravier, winemaker at Domaine Tempier, with the advent of climate change, Mourvèdre's limit for successful viticulture continues to extend northward. "We now find more and more compelling Mourvèdres grown further north, which rarely would have been the case thirty years ago," Ravier explains. Furthermore, while Mourvèdre can subsist on relatively little water, "the drought epidemic has worsened over the past few years and is becoming increasingly problematic." And that's only one of Bandol's greatest threats. Resting on the western edge of the French Riviera, Bandol occupies prime real estate – and not just for winegrowing. According to "The Oxford Companion to Wine," Bandol's vineyard acreage has dropped sharply to less than half of what it was in the early 2000s, much due to the encroachment of property developments. While vineyards may shrink, Bandol's wines, nonetheless, only seem to achieve greater renown. A minuscule amount of white wine, based on Clairette , exists in Bandol, but two-thirds of the region's output is pink. While appellation requirements only necessitate a minimum of 20% Mourvèdre for rosé wines, several of the top producers will dedicate half the blend or higher to the region's signature variety. Grenache and Cinsaut will traditionally fill out the rest of the wine, along with a select few additional varieties. Bandol rosés achieve the same complexity and restraint as the rest of their Provençal neighbors, yet they somehow taste fleshier, more concentrated and ample, without being more extracted. Daniel Ravier finds them particularly well suited for the dinner table, praising their "ability to pair with anything, especially spicy cuisines." Bouillabaisse too, the garlicky fish stew native to Marseille just west, makes for a compelling match. Bandol Rouge, on the other hand, beckons a rack of lamb. Excellent examples balance a regal precision and finesse with an untethered rusticity - a juxtaposition fitting for an appellation nested between the Côte d'Azur and Provence's humbler addresses. Tasting notes can easily range from violet and lavender to leather and game all within the same wine. Regulations oblige a minimum 50% Mourvèdre, but many producers choose to make nearly varietal offerings. At their best, the red wines of Bandol yield a tannic structure as polished as Bordeaux , yet as juicy as the Southern Rhône. In an endless sea of pink, Bandol Rouge provides Provence its winning hand as a candidate among France's most serious wines for the cellar. — Bryce Wiatrak Have you uncorked a bottle of Bandol recently? Whether white, red, or rosé, we want to see what you’ve been drinking. Snap a photo of the label and add your notes on Delectable!