Domaine Tempier Bandol La Tourtine Rouge 2020
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Robert
Parker
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Winemaker Notes
A wonderful synthesis of the terroir’s tremendous complexity, where aromas of squid ink, graphite, and crushed stone are framed by firm tannins. Decant to enjoy now, but it’s marvelous with age.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Mainly Mourvèdre (85%), with Cinsault and Grenache, the 2020 Bandol la Tourtine was still in foudre at the time of my visit last year. Scents of cola, smoke and red berries provide ample complexity on the nose, while the medium to full-bodied palate is concentrated and almost creamy in texture while remaining fresh and dynamic on the lengthy finish. Barrel Sample :(94 - 96).
Other Vintages
2019-
Robert
Parker
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Robert
Parker
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Wine
Spectator
Bandol is a small appellation on the Mediterranean, granted AOC status in 1941. For centuries it has produced some of the longest-lived wines in France, using primarily the Mourvedre grape. Wines from this region have unique aromatic properties which many claim come from the dry Provencal herbs which cover the hillsides: thyme, savory, rosemary, wild mint and fennel.
Domaine Tempier's rose, considered to by many to be the finest in France, is fuller and creamier on the palate and shows dimensions not often found in rose. Perhaps the addition of young Mourvedre is responsible, or the Peyraud's allowance for the wine to follow its natural inclination and complete malolactic fermentation.
Full of ripe fruit, and robust, earthy goodness, Mourvèdre is actually of Spanish provenance, where it still goes by the name Monastrell or Mataro. It is better associated however, with the Red Blends of the Rhône, namely Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Mourvèdre shines on its own in Bandol and is popular both as a single varietal wine in blends in the New World regions of Australia, California and Washington. Somm Secret—While Mourvèdre has been in California for many years, it didn’t gain momentum until the 1980s when a group of California winemakers inspired by the wines of the Rhône Valley finally began to renew a focus on it.
Provence’s leader in concentrated and age-worthy red wines, Bandol is home to the dense, deep and earthy Mourvèdre grape. Like Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Bandol produces characterful reds that, while approachable in their youth, are typically designed for the cellar.
Given its coastal, Provencal situation, Bandol also naturally produces an assortment of charming, aromatic rosés made of Mourvèdre, Grenache and Cinsault.