Great Bandol Rose is one of life’s great pleasures.  This totally unique appellation at the very south of France near Marseilles is as coastal as it gets yet the heat-loving Mourvedre grape thrives under the Provencal sunshine too, creating a unique melding of microclimates and one of the wine world’s unduplicatable treasures.  The classic Bandol Rose stands apart for its distinctive ‘lantana’ and ‘garrigue’ aromatics, its broad, balanced palate and its unrelented salty coastal mineral acidity inflected with just the right amount of a bitterish snap at the finish.  And a well-made Bandol Rose can also age very well, often reaching their best two to three years after the harvest.  Our favorites have huge followings here at PRIMA- Domaine Tempier, Bastide Blanche, Pradeaux, Suffrene and Pibarnon to name a few.  But, my goodness Chateau Sainte Anne, where have you been all my life!?  It’s not new- just new to me.  In fact, the Dutheil family has been making wine in the area for five generations and were prime movers in the effort to create the appellation in the first place.  They are also pioneers in the ‘natural wine’ movement and their production very much hews to a very traditional approach to farming and winemaking.  Their Rose, like all the best in the area, is very much informed by the 50+-year old Mourvedre in the blend.  It provides the structure, lift and aromatics while Cinsault is like a squeeze of lemon atop a base of the glorious wild strawberries, pomegranate and blood orange provided by Grenache.  Fermented on its own yeast and aged only in tank, this epitomizes everything we love about Bandol Rose. It’s fresh, lively, dry and complex with impressive length and persistence.  And that’s already!  This is a wine whose life in only just beginning.  Drink all summer long (why not start this weekend?) but keep some for Thanksgiving dinner 2025 when it will be at its absolute best. **** Arugulas and **+ Hammocks on
PRIMA’s scientific Rose scale.  And also from Bandol- the two big names…..