Domaine Le Galantin Bandol Rouge 2017

The tiny appellation of Bandol is located directly on the Mediterranean coast, just east of Marseille. Following the steps of her father Achille, who bought the land in 1960 and produced his first vintage in 1972, Céline Pascale took over the domaine in 1999. She is helped by her brother Jérôme, who takes care of the vineyards. Today, Domaine le Galantin farms 30 hectares of terraced vineyards located in Le Plan du Castellet. Everything is hand-harvested, and the farming practices are organic, not certified.   

The ancient steep vineyards of Bandol - first planted by Phocaean Greeks c.600BC - are the perfect home for Mourvèdre. This variety produces wines that can age at least three decades. As at le Galantin, the best vineyards are planted on poor clay and sandy soil on old terraces, known locally as restanques. The appellations's 1400 hectares of largely south facing vineyards get an extraordinary 3,000 hours of sun a year, but the heat is tempered by constant wind and also humidity from the sea.

This wine is a powerhouse of dark berry fruit flavors with a lingering, complex finish. Produced from 95% Mourvèdre and 5% old-vines Grenache, it is fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged for 22 months in 70 to 90 hectolitre foudres and demi-muids (one new and the rest 2 to 6 year old) before release, which makes this tasty giant more approachable in its youth. Céline is employing 20% whole cluster fermentation (80% destemmed) and pressing after 20 days. 2500 cases produced.