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Chateau Val d'Arenc, Bandol Rosé

Provence, France 2015 (750mL)
$25.00
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Chateau Val d'Arenc, Bandol Rosé

We’ve had it hammered into our heads time and again: Drink rosé young—as in, the Spring after the vintage young, right after the wine is bottled and shipped. That is generally good advice, but there are many rosé wines from around the world with greater ambitions than that.
At the top of that list are the pink wines of Bandol, in Provence, a place where rosé is not just a by-product of red wine vinification but a regional specialty worthy of greater attention. Obviously the standard-bearer in Provence is Domaine Tempier, whose rosé is arguably their flagship—a wine sourced from 20+-year-old vines that are harvested specifically for the production of rosé. But that wine is not only difficult to find; it gets more expensive every year. As you might have guessed, we have a solution—this wine from Val d’Arenc, a 2015 rosé with a Tempier level of expressiveness and nobility at a much gentler price. Yes, it’s a 2015—and, in my opinion, all the better for it, having knit together and become more aromatically complex since its release around this time last year. Still brimming with freshness, it is nevertheless a more serious glass of wine now, ready to take on just about whatever food you decide to throw at it. I love its acidic twang, and while tomato season may still be some ways off, I’ve got plenty of near-term plans for this wine. Care to join me?
The Val d’Arenc property includes 26 hectares spread across the rocky terraces (restanques) of Bandol, where the soils are a mix of limestone and sandy marls. The estate is now run by a Burgundy-trained enologist, Gérald Damidot, who has not only converted the estate to organic viticulture (with certification expected this year), but has brought a ‘Burgundian’ sensibility to the winemaking. What does that mean? Well, this is a hot region, where over-ripeness and even flabbiness is a legitimate threat; Damidot is all about preserving acidity, minerality and freshness across the entirety of the d’Arenc lineup. This rosé offers all of that in spades.

As I mentioned above, much of the world’s rosé comes to be by bleeding juice from a tank of red wine that has just begun fermentation. This method, called saignée, occurs at an early point in the red wine skin maceration, when the juice has only been tinted pink; the pink-tinted juice is transferred to another vessel to complete its fermentation. By contrast, Val d’Arenc (like Tempier) harvests red grapes specifically for the production of rosé (earlier than they’d harvest for red wine), then direct-presses them into temperature-controlled tanks for a short maceration. This creates a livelier style of rosé, still fruity but with more acid freshness—even a little austerity—in its youth.

Val d’Arenc’s 2015 Bandol is a blend of 80% Mourvèdre, 10% Grenache, and 10% Cinsault, and displays the classic salmon-pink color of Bandol. When tasters talk about a wine having a “bouquet,” they’re talking about wines like this: aromas of fresh strawberries, peaches, red currant, roses and violets, pink peppercorns and citrus rind leap from the glass. On the palate it is lush and fruity but also structured and focused—even after a year of bottle age, it still has lots of electricity and grip. And what couldn’t you eat it with? Charcuterie? Check. Smoked salmon? Double check. Bourride? Triple check! See the attached recipe, and be sure to stock up on Val d’Arenc for the summer. You will want to re-create this combo many times over.
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Country
France
Region
Provence
Sub-Region
FranceBandol AOC
Soil
Limestone & Marl
Farming
Organic
Blend
Mourvèdre (80%), Grenache (10%), Cinsault (10%)
Alcohol
13.0
TEMP.
45
Glassware
All-Purpose White Wine
Drinking
Now
Pairing
Bourride with Aioli

France

Bourgogne

Beaujolais

Enjoying the greatest wines of Beaujolais starts, as it usually does, with the lay of the land. In Beaujolais, 10 localities have been given their own AOC (Appellation of Controlled Origin) designation. They are: Saint Amour; Juliénas; Chénas; Moulin-à Vent; Fleurie; Chiroubles; Morgon; Régnié; Côte de Brouilly; and Brouilly.

Southwestern France

Bordeaux

Bordeaux surrounds two rivers, the Dordogne and Garonne, which intersect north of the city of Bordeaux to form the Gironde Estuary, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The region is at the 45th parallel (California’s Napa Valley is at the38th), with a mild, Atlantic-influenced climate enabling the maturation of late-ripening varieties.

Central France

Loire Valley

The Loire is France’s longest river (634 miles), originating in the southerly Cévennes Mountains, flowing north towards Paris, then curving westward and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantes. The Loire and its tributaries cover a huge swath of central France, with most of the wine appellations on an east-west stretch at47 degrees north (the same latitude as Burgundy).

Northeastern France

Alsace

Alsace, in Northeastern France, is one of the most geologically diverse wine regions in the world, with vineyards running from the foothills of theVosges Mountains down to the Rhine River Valley below.

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