Tasting great at 28 years! — 20 days ago
Light not sweet. Really nice. Drank with Ale — 13 days ago
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. — 22 days ago
HawaiiのWolf Gang Steakhouse にて、3世代ディナー。ジンファンデルの果実味とタンニンの苦さのバランスが絶妙。ステーキとの相性は抜群。 — 5 days ago
Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of three days. Best on Day 3. The 2021 pours, a deep ruby color with medium+ viscosity and moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with gorgeous notes of black and red bramble fruit, red and purple flowers, black pepper, garrigue, dried herbs, rocky earth. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose where the pepper plays an even greater role. The finishes long and the texture is silky smooth. The high alcohol is almost imperceptible. On Day 1, this was good but not particularly interesting (though the quality was clearly there). After significant air, this blossomed into a really compelling Gigondas; full of character! Best after 2026 and through 2036+. — 21 days ago
2023 is a good vintage — 17 hours ago
Very nice blend. Good price point and paired well with our meal. — 20 days ago
Doug Powers
Crisp and refreshing low ABV (11.5%) foothills Mourvèdre, redfruits, excellent acidity, great hot summer day (100 degrees), medium-long finish, probably even better slightly chilled. — 20 days ago