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Domaine La Suffrene, Bandol Rosé

Provence, France 2016 (750mL)
$25.00
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Body
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SommSelect

Domaine La Suffrene, Bandol Rosé

As you’ve no doubt noticed by now, the 2017 rosés have now entered the market en masse. And it’s because of the market’s slavish devotion to the “newest” rosé possible that we’re able to get a delicious, top-quality Bandol 2016 at a relative bargain. Located about six minutes up the road from Domaine Tempier and blessed with a similarly high-elevation, limestone-rich terroir, Domaine La Suffrene offers across-the-board value alternatives to Bandol’s big boys.
his wine, driven by Mourvèdre sourced from 50-year-old vines, has had the chance to broaden and deepen with some bottle age—something most of the rosé consumed in this country is not given the chance to do. As we say often here on SommSelect, we may purchase these wines in the Spring following the vintage, but, given our druthers—and especially at this quality level—we’d rather actually drink them the following Spring. One sip of this lush, expressive 2016 from Suffrene and you’ll see what I mean. It’s still plenty lively and refreshing, but, to paraphrase Gertrude Stein, there’s more ‘there’ there. It’s crazy to me that since the 2017 landed, the ’16, like many of its rosé brethren, couldn’t find a home. We snapped it up and I wish we could have gotten more, especially as the weather warms—this is a rosé to remember and it’s ready to go right now!
La Suffrene is right in the heartland of the Bandol AOC, in the village of La Cadière-d’Azur, where Cedric Gravier farms 52 hectares of vineyards according to organic principles (although he is not certified). Mostly south-facing, and enjoying Bandol’s crucial interplay of mountain and Mediterranean breezes, Gravier’s vineyards are rooted in the classic clay and limestone mixture of the region, with more sandstone at higher elevations and more clay lower down. Prior to 1996, the estate sold its fruit to local cooperative wineries, but Gravier has climbed into the top ranks of estate-bottlers. In addition to old-vine Mourvèdre, which comprises 40% of this rosé, Gravier incorporates a small percentage of even-older Carignan (10%) along with Cinsault (30%) and Grenache (20%). The wine is predominantly a ‘direct-press’ style, wherein the destemmed, crushed grapes undergo a two-day maceration before fermentation, but there is also a small amount of saignée wine (bled-off juice from a red-wine fermentation) blended in.

You’ll notice a relatively dark hue to this 2016: It’s a deep salmon-pink the skews reddish, like the flesh of a blood orange. Aromas of nectarine, blood orange, wild strawberry, lavender, wild herbs and warm spices draw you in, and carry over to a medium-plus-bodied palate. It is quite lush and round and deeply satisfying because of it—a “food rosé,” in my opinion, with plenty of freshness keeping it brisk and clean on the finish. This is in its prime drinking window right now and begs to opened soon and served in all-purpose white stems at 45-50 degrees. It’s one of several wines I’ve tasted lately that have me craving the arrival of summer tomatoes—and the opportunity to make authentic recipes like the attached. Let’s bring Provence home! Enjoy!
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Country
France
Region
Provence
Sub-Region
FranceBandol
Soil
Clay & Limestone
Farming
'lutte raisonnée'
Blend
Mourvèdre 40%, Cinsault 30%, Grenache 20%, Carignan 10%
Alcohol
13.0
OAK
None
TEMP.
45-50
Glassware
All-Purpose
Drinking
Now
Pairing
Tomatoes Provençal

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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