Summer is when the focus shifts to seasonal wine drinking, what with ballyhoo over crisp whites and refreshing rosés. But here at SommSelect, we love our winter-time wines. For a few months a year, we get to dig into the burly, soulful, and contemplative reds that take a back seat during sunnier seasons. And a bottle like Jean-Pierre Gaussen’s Bandol “Cuvée Longue Garde” 2016 is worth waiting all year for. Here is the liquid essence of southern France, a heady swirl of deep, dark fruit, scrubby herbs, and sanguine minerality that feels like it’s been squeezed from stone. Now eight-plus years out from the vintage, it’s showing off an unexpected grace alongside all its Provençal power. And as its name implies, “Cuvée Longue Garde” will go for decades more in your cellar. Bandol Rouge is talked about more than it’s actually drunk, but dig into a bottle of Gaussen and you’ll immediately join us in our neverending search for the stuff. Like us, you might even start longing for the dark days of winter!
If you’re looking for breathtaking vineyard landscapes, Bandol is about as dramatic as they come. Here, just east of Marseille, bush-trained vines cling to steep terraces that butt up against the Mediterranean Sea. This is a decidedly warm region, sheltered from cold, northern winds by a chain of mountains and basking all day long in abundant sunshine. Mourvédre is the main variety here. Most often relegated to blending status in other regions, in Bandol the famously fussy and late-ripening variety slowly coasts to ripeness under the blasting sun. The vines here are constantly buffeted by cooling winds off the Mediterranean, inflecting the ripe fruit flavors with singularly Provençal accents of garrigue, black olive, and lavender. Bandol may just produce the most tannic wine in all of France, and it takes an exceedingly skillful hand to produce a wine that balances Mourvédre’s inherent ferocity with drinkability. Thankfully, Jean-Pierre Gaussen has just that.
Jean-Pierre and his wife Julia moved to the medieval village Cadière d’Azur, in the heart of Bandol, in the early 60s. They purchased a single hectare of vines back then, and though they grew their production over the ensuing decades, their work remained strictly artisanal and small-scale. Julia sadly passed away a few years ago, but Jean-Pierre keeps on just as they always had, making his wines in the cellar beneath their house–both of which he built himself. And his daughter, Mireille, is now very active in assisting her father with all aspects of the family business. Fermentations are always spontaneous, and wine is typically moved only by gravity. His Bandol Rouge is 95% Mourvédre and 5% Grenache, entirely destemmed and macerated very gently so as to moderate the tannic structure. Aging takes place strictly in large, old foudre for 18 months, and then the bottled wine is laid down for years until it begins to soften up.
Though it’s almost nine years old at this point, popping Gaussen’s “Cuvée Longue Garde” into a decanter for an hour or two is still recommended. Once it’s been given some air, the nose opens with an incredible melange of crushed blackberries, cassis, purple plum skin, lavender, thyme, fennel, leather, sandalwood, and a deep iron-rich minerality. The palate is dense and powerful, almost balsamic in its richness, but a judicious zip of acidity keeps it from being fatiguing. There’s no doubt the tannic structure is still pronounced and resonant, but it’s well-integrated, polished, ready to take on any rustic winter cuisine you throw at it. And it promises a very, very long life ahead. Be sure to grab plenty to stow away, so you can cozy up with Gaussen for many winters to come!
