Wine Art in France

While W stands for wine, A stands for art, and F stands for food in France, M their marriage, the letter B definitely stands for Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Bandol. The last 3 are the names of regions in France famous throughout the world for their wine art. They make such a high quality of wine that verily awards them the gold standard in these matters.

While the world has already heard of Bordeaux and Burgundy in no small measure, what it has not probably as much is that of Bandol. The latter is a small coastal region in France nestling between Toulon and Marseilles in the French Riviera. It grows and produces some of the best red wine that the world has ever tasted.

Bandol reds are not only imbued with great depth and power, but also the exquisite aroma of Havana, minerality, dense undergrowth, and leather. Add to these features the taste of violet, liquorice, eucalyptus, and black fruit and you can well imagine the quality of a young Bandol red wine. When aged the same wine tastes of truffle, hummus, spices, jam, and Morello cherry.

The rich complexity of Bandol reds and their subtle nuances are sure to tickle your palate, mind, and imagination as much as their aroma will sound out your sense of smell. The ripeness of the wine imparts a sort of voluptuousness to it that is attributed more by the Sun-baked soil (terroir) of Bandol. The earthy and feral richness and peppery flavor of the young Bandol wine are balanced by the strength that only its tannic structure provides.

Bandol grows its wine in the hilly regions in such a way that its grapes always face the south. This ensures that the plants receive abundant Sunlight with the seaside breeze contributing in its own way to the development of its grapes. The warm Mediterranean region serves as the ideal foundation for the growth of quality grapes.

No wonder it ascribes to the fruit the title of roi cépage mourvèdre (king of grapes). That Bandol receives so little rainfall also ensures the health of the grapes grown there as much does the fact that the Mistral winds serve to drive it away when rainfall does sparingly occur. For rainfall can easily mean rot for the grapes and destroy the crop. This allows the late-maturing Bandol reds the time required to ripen majestically.

The above environmental features impart a unique quality to the Bandol red wines which you will not find elsewhere in France. Moreover, attempts to duplicate the environment elsewhere have always ended in failure. The microclimate available in Bandol that bestows such rich qualities in the red wine produced there is not amenable for use in other regions in France.