Bandol Rouge 2018

Grape variety: 70% Mourvèdre, 22% Cinsault, 5% Grenache, 3% Syrah

Terroir: Limestone and clay soils. Vineyard cultivated in terraces (locally called “restanques”) on the steep slopes of a natural cirque, facing south.

Yields: 18 hl/ha             Average age of the vines : 39 years old

Vinification: The grapes are hand-harvested and sorted in the vineyard. They are then sorted again at the cellar before being de-stemmed. The fermentation lasts two to three weeks in concrete tanks, with smooth pumping over each day. The wines are aged 18 months in oak tanks of 30 to 80 hl.  

Vintage: The year 2017 ended as it started: with a drought. The winter began with generous rainfalls. The first buds hatched around the beginning of April, watered by heavy rains. The weather was ideal to enhance soil life but also mildew… which soon started to show with its characteristic yellowish stains on the leaves. The spring was very rainy which made it hard to win the fight against the mildew and this capricious weather lasted until July. 
The vines were very generous in grapes which made it necessary to green-harvest to boost the ripeness of the grapes and to pluck the leaves off to aerate the grapes. The harvest started on September the 3rd with the Cinsault grapes, which suffered from the wet conditions of 2018 and therefore were less concentrated and damaged. Thus, they had to be sorted thoroughly in the vines but also in the cellar. Hopefully, September was the only rain-free month of the year, which lead to a perfect ripeness for the Mourvèdre. The harvest ended September 25th. 

Ageing potential: 10 to 15 years

Serve: 18° 

Food pairings :  

• Red meats (roast rack of lamb with herbs, grilled beef, veal roast)
• Game meat (wild boar stew with olives,  jitter of deer...)
• Moussaka
• Chocolate desert