, Friday Follies Case Special $222/$18.50 per bottle

Smart shoppers know that spring is not the season for the new vintage of Rose but also the best time to find deals on the previous harvest’s wines, the best of which are only now rounding into form.  Is there any better aging Rose appellation than Bandol?  I think not!  The tightly wound acidity and undeveloped fruit flavors of the Mourvedre grape really do require a year or so to come into their own.  So, while you’re loading up on all that wonderful new light and pretty Provencal stuff that’s just arriving, make sure top leave some room at the back of the fridge for excellent deals like Bieler’s heftier Bandol!  Mourvedre makes up over 60% of the blend bringing with it those textbook lantana flower, blood orange and white pepper notes. Quite rich on the palate, there’s plenty of staying power here and enough chutzpah to demand (well, ask politely) for some cooking to show its best.  How about a whole grilled fish so you can pretend you’re in a gorgeous café in Marseilles overlooking the bobbing masts of some scenic sailboats. The salmon pink of a Bandol Rose looks just perfect with the sunshine prisming through…..  *** Arugulas and **+ Hammocks on PRIMA’s scientific Rose scale.