Wines

Made from 45% Cinsault and 40% Mourvedre, with the balance split among Grenache and Carignan, the pale-iron-colored Côtes de Provence Rose is closer to Bandol-level complexity and concentration than we have yet seen from this wine—a result of the 2017 vintage’s atypical concentration. A core of sappy, glycerol red-cherry fruit anchors a firm, punchy minerality, and the finish is remarkably persistent. The vineyards that comprise this wine were, in fact, classified as Bandol AOC as recently as 2012, and this wine clearly distinguishes itself from among the vast ocean of Côtes de Provence rose by virtue of its terroir’s unique pedigree.

The Bandol Rosé from Pradeaux is perhaps the most serious wine in this category. Robust, rich, and complex with an ability to age gracefully, this wine is based on Cinsault (50%) and Mourvèdre (50%), taking its slight orange tint from the latter cépage. The younger vines of the domaine (average age: 25 years) are utilized to produce a rare rosé with staying power and exceptional complexity. The Rosé is vinified by a direct pressing for 24 hours followed by fermentation in cement tanks at a controlled temperature of 18 degrees Celsius for about 15 days; the malo-lactic fermentation is blocked and the wine is usually bottled in mid-April of the following year.

In homage to Bandol’s noblest cepage, “Vesprée”—a somewhat untranslatable French term referring to the deep pinkish hue of a clear sky as day fades to night—is 100% Mourvèdre. Etienne aged half of it in a single six-hectoliter oak cask, and the other half in a concrete egg—an eye-grabbing vessel that promotes aeration, stabilizes temperature naturally, and allows the wine inside to flow continuously and smoothly. It was bottled in mid-September of 2017—after nearly a full year of élevage, and over six months later than the regular bottling—and it will finally reach our shores the last week of January. “Vesprée” presents a full, swaggering nose of quince paste, white pepper, and coarse-ground Indian spices, and the big, richly textured palate possesses a structural tension that heavily underlines its potential for aging—though it is fresh, tense, and very delicious right now. It is exceedingly difficult to find rosé of this caliber and character, even from Bandol—and, in a twist of irony, this wine which is so purely and deeply Bandol to its very core was denied appellation status on three separate occasions, and is thus labeled a “Vin de France.”

The Portalis family reserves their oldest vines for their flagship Bandol Rouge, and employs their younger plantings of Mourvèdre, complemented by splashes of Grenache and Cinsault, in the “Le Lys”—which we are excited to debut in the outstanding 2016 vintage. Comprising 85% Mourvèdre, plus roughly 10% Grenache and 5% Cinsault, “Le Lys” is de-stemmed around 50%, in contrast to the old-vines cuvée which is always fermented entirely whole-cluster. Etienne employs de-stemming here not to craft an easy and-forward wine, however, but to preserve equilibrium in a cuvée whose younger and less substantially sappy fruit may threaten to be overwhelmed by stem tannins. “Le Lys” spends two years in large oak casks rather than the appellation-outlying four years of the flagship red; it’s a long enough stint for its elements to harmonize beautifully, but the fruit remains ever so slightly juicier and more primary than in the old-vines Bandol Rouge. The drought-vintage 2016 delivers plenty of leather and a thick wall of ultra-black fruit, and even if it is less imposingly built than the flagship wine, it is far more serious, authoritative, and layered wine than most of what the appellation produces—and it is unmistakably Pradeaux to its core.

The Bandol from Pradeaux is a creature whose soul emerges from Mourvèdre, with 5% Grenache adding spice to the bouquet and leavening some of the intimidating structure of the Mourvèdre. Situated mere steps from the Mediterranean, harvest at Pradeaux (always manual) starts in earnest during the first weeks of October, with low yields averaging 25 hl/ha. One of the hallmarks of Pradeaux is that the grapes are never destemmed. The result is a wine of ferocious tannin in its youth, a reason for the prolonged aging in large wooden barrels for over 4 years, a time for the wine to repose and find its identity as it emerges from the cocoon of tannins to reveal an exceptionally complex crowd of aromas and flavors.

In particularly exceptional vintages, Cyrille Portalis permits us to draw off a small portion of the juice from the oldest Mourvèdre vines to create the “Cuvée Longue Garde”, exclusively Mourvèdre from vines in excess of 45 years of age. Both cuvées are aged at least 4 years in large, old oak ovals and older foudres before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. Suffice to say, this is one of our favorite wines, a special creation, inimitable in all ways and worthy of the attentions of anyone serious about wine. This cuvée is made exclusively for our use and, when produced, is limited to approximately 600 bottles.