Vanessa

9.2

Domaine Tempier is a BELOVED and legendary family-run estate, producing top quality benchmark wines from Bandol AOC in the Provence region, on the Mediterranean coast of France.

We first learned about the Tempiers when reading Kermit Lynch’s book “Adventures on the Wine Route” which offered a warm, intimate introduction to this family among others featured in the book.

As an aside “Adventures on the Wine Route” is a wonderful, in-depth look into key regions and producers of France. There’s nearly an entire chapter on Domaine Tempier in Bandol alone.

This particular wine is named after the organically-farmed vineyard from which it came – “La Tourtine” – and has 80% Mourvèdre, 10% Grenache, 10% Cinsault, where grapes are picked by hand and the soils are still tilled by horse.

It aged in oak foudres (large oak vessels) for 18 to 20 months, leaving nary a note of new oak, but rather depth, texture and complexity from the very delicate breaths this wine took over that time aging before bottle.

It’s delicious – marked by classic meaty, leather notes, next to ripe cassis, earth, clove, anise, garrigue, not to mention texture, mouthfeel, and warmth.

This is the kind of wine we love in the fall, when braised meats and stews are on the dinner table. Or next to a roaring winter’s fire. Then again it pairs well with a summer barbeque and everything in between, too. It’s a seasonally- and culinarily-diverse wine to say the least!

What’s your go-to Bandol rouge? We’d love to hear it. — 2 days ago

with Deked1

Paco Suro

9.2

Terrific. Young. Closed off a bit but sooo good regardless. — a year ago

Dennis Hogenkamp

9.2

13.5% ABV Salute to Lulu Peyraud of Domaine Tempier in France. Lulu’s father owned the vineyard , and she along with her husband took it over. Sadly we lost her in October 2020 at the age of 102 y/o. This is a blend of old vine Mataro and Grenache. Light salmon color, watermelon initially , later apple. Very nice! — 2 years ago

Jay Kline

9.3

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of a few hours. The 2022 pours a pale coral color with a transparent core; medium viscosity. On the nose, the wine is developing with a refreshing mix of tart and ripe red fruits; strawberry, watermelon dry underbrush, red flowers, and wet stone minerals. On the palate, the wine is dry; tannins are light with medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and saline. Lovely texture. This continues to be a benchmark for rosé. Drink now through 2032. — 15 days ago

David Peifer

9.2

Great Bandol Rose. Not as good as Tempier but pretty darn close. — 3 months ago

Paul J

9.3

From a magnum. Half decanted and half not. Didn’t really make a difference. More French than CA. Rustic nose with hints of burning wood and manure. Modest cherry fruit on the palate with cedar and earth. Medium depth and finish. Age really showed through. Not the wine I was expecting at all, but was nice. Somewhat similar to Domaine Tempier Bandol. — 2 years ago

with Brooke

Doug Powers

9.3

[En Magnum.] Medium-dark color, some Brett aromas, fruit still pretty youthful, loads of structure still in this Bandol, long finish, very good! — 14 days ago

with Jim

Paul J

9.5

Same as previous notes. — 2 months ago

with Brooke

Jon Ebsworth

9.0

Brooding Bandol. Slightly feral on opening, then got into its stride. Perhaps a little young. — 10 months ago

Slestyan

8.9

Give it plenty of time — 2 years ago