If you were to poll all the top wine critics and master sommeliers out there on the 10 best rosés in the world, there’s little doubt that Château Pibarnon would make the list. Here in the U.S. Pibarnon sometimes plays second fiddle to Domaine Tempier, and certainly Tempier wins when it comes to pop culture references, but in France and around the wine drinking world it’s actually Pibarnon that is considered the king of Bandol, and by proxy Provençal, rosé. Why? The answer lies in its ability to perfectly balance those fresh, summertime berries and citrus flavors with savory herbs and saline minerality. Add to that a more sophisticated, mouth-coating texture that finishes clean, crisp, and thirst quenching and boom, there you have it: pure, pink wine perfection. We haven’t been able to offer this brilliant icon for several vintages now, so I’m especially excited to share it once again with you today. Bring on the summer!
Château de Pibarnon sits at the highest point in the Bandol appellation, a fact that anyone who is fortunate enough to visit this beautiful address will not soon forget. At the top of a hill that is circled by a very narrow dirt road, the property is perched high above the countryside, and features a panoramic view of vines planted on century-old terraces made of stone. Jagged, coastal mountains spiked with limestone in one direction, the Mediterranean in the other…not a bad setup, and of course the wines more than live up to their surroundings. Sourced from vineyards arrayed in a natural, southeast-facing amphitheater, with soils of pebbly limestone over blue clay, the entire Pibarnon lineup—red, white, and rosé—reliably captures the essence of both the sea and the soil.
Bandol’s combination of soil composition and Mediterranean sun has proved ideal for the late-ripening Mourvèdre grape, the signature red of the appellation. And, as Bandol’s Mourvèdre-driven reds are widely regarded as Provence’s best—Pibarnon’s is a spicy, perfumed style capable of long, graceful aging—it stands to reason that the rosés from the grape would be similarly distinguished. Pibarnon’s 2023 is comprised of 65% Mourvèdre and 35% Cinsault from old vines (30-50 years) grown at about 300 meters’ elevation, which subjects the grapes to wider diurnal temperature swings and helps maintain freshness. The Cinsault grapes for the rosé are pressed immediately after harvesting, but the Mourvèdre is crushed and put into a tank so that only the “free run” juice—the juice that flows from the grapes without any pressing—is drawn off. The Cinsault and Mourvèdre are fermented separately on indigenous yeasts, then later blended before aging for six months in stainless steel tanks.
The 2023 Pibarnon Rosé is full of both power and nerve, shining a classic salmon-pink in the glass with light pink and magenta highlights. The aromas are textbook Provence, with notes of wild strawberry, red currant, pink grapefruit, hibiscus tea, salty peach, lilac and lavender, dried herbs, and faint accents of pink peppercorn and earth. The palate impression is full and deep, but without any of the extra residual sugar or flabbiness that sinks a lot of southern French rosés. There’s intense flavor as well as laser focus. Get some good prosciutto, jamón, or American country ham to enjoy with it, or make some salmon croquettes. Save some for your Thanksgiving dinner, too, as I always do (it really sings with those flavors), and indeed it only gets better with time so if you can lose a few bottles in the cellar for next summer and beyond, even better. Serve it at 50 degrees in large all-purpose stems and you’ve got perhaps the ultimate “chameleon” wine on earth for your dinner table. This is an all-time great! Enjoy!
