Featured Wine

     With our annual rose tasting over, we had to feature our favorite from the lineup.  Yes, the mimes beat out the cowboys and vonTrapps again and stole the show.  It's kind of unfair to go up against juice like this because there's really nothing like this rose.  The weight is such that those of you that find traditional Provencal roses too light and California roses too rich, you can tuck right into this baby happy that you've found your match. 

     Wine critic Robert Parker is quite the fan as well.  Here's his take: "Another summer ...bone-dry rose....2008 Domaine de la Bastide Blanche...70% mourvedre,22% cinsault,8% grenache....fuller-bodied style with surprising power,depth and even structure...behaves more like a mid-weight dry red ....most Bandol roses are rare and expensive(very popular in Europe and quantities are limited)...this is right up there with my standard Bandol reference rose...Domaine Tempier...but Tempier sells for $35...this costs $20....ordered a case myself....."

     First a little background on the winery.  In the early 70’s Michel and Louis Bronzo (the latter on the board of the INAO) acquired the property of the Bastide Blanche, with an eye to producing from appellation Bandol wines the equal of more famous appellations like Chateauneuf. Their painstaking efforts were rewarded in 1993 when vintage conditions created the benchmark year to put Bandol in general and Bastide-Blanche, in particular, on the map of top producers in France. They have various cuvees, depending on the vintage, but in their reds, always about ¾ Mourvedre as a minimum, up to 100% Mourvedre for the cuvee Fontanieu from a parcel of that name near the Mediterranean. Also, common each year to their success are their very low yields, never more than 34 or 35 hl/ha, and simply impeccable cellar conditions and attention. This shows in the pure, well-delineated fruit, that has become a hallmark of Bastide-Blanche.

     When we fall in love with a rose (and we do every year, multiple times) it is usually because of three things; 1) it's dry but fruity enough to give it some body, 2) it ends with a smack of balanced acidity, and 3) there's some twist like wild strawberries, white pepper or a combination of herbs that makes it stand out above the rest.  In our opinions, this is the best rose of the year.