Whenever I recommend wine for this column, I do my best to write about wines that should be available statewide. (As statewide as is possible with 30+ dry counties, at least.) Hopefully, if you're unable to find every bottle at your local shop, you should at least be able to find something from each column, and thankfully, most wine shop owners are happy to special order you a bottle of whatever you'd like to try.
I also try to give you options at multiple price points. I'm not drinking $50 wine every day, and I don't expect you to, either. (Though if you are, please invite me over!) Today, however, I want to focus on three wines from a single estate that, though both elusive and expensive, exemplify everything I love about the world of wine.
Domaine Tempier sits in the hills of southern France, just a few miles from the Mediterranean in the small-but-mighty winemaking region of Bandol. A family-run establishment since 1834, it's renowned for its pared-down, back-to-basics approach to winemaking. Here, pesticides and chemical sprays in the vineyards are replaced by homemade herbal teas sprayed directly on the vines, and the winemaking teams eschew chemical additives, instead letting the grapes and the wine speak for themselves.
The winery produces multiple reds, a white, and a rosé each year, but only produces a little more than 11,000 cases each vintage — a small amount compared to the wine factories that churn out $10 California red blends for your grocery store. Individually, the wines each serve as a snapshot of idyllic southern France, but taken as a whole, they tell the story of a single property, and a single family, through time.
Their Bandol rosé ($50), is easily one of the world's greatest rosés, awash in notes of guava, lavender and peach skins. Their Bandol blanc ($55) is perhaps the rarest of their wines in Arkansas, with only a few cases making it to the state each year. Those who are lucky enough to snag a few bottles are rewarded with a wine that tastes like bottled seaspray. Notes of tangerine, salty air and savory herbs make it a powerhouse secret weapon with hard-to-pair foods.
But my favorite of Tempier's wines — the ones that inspired me to write this column — are their reds. The red wines of Bandol are dominated by one of my favorite grapes: mourvedre (or monastrell as it's known in Spain, or mataro as it's sometimes called in Australia and California). Mourvedre is the Muhammad Ali of wine grapes, as powerful as it is graceful, and only in the hands of a skilled winemaker will it reach its true potential. Tempier's Bandol rouge ($60) is three-quarters mourvedre with go-to French blending grapes like grenache, cinsault, and syrah making up the difference.
It produces a red that's wild and almost untameable in its youth. These wines will show notes of plum and blackberry, woodsmoke and burnt raspberries. Over time, however, they evolve into majestic, towering wines, evoking the aromas of the parched, sun-drenched hillsides that surround the region's vineyards. Look for notes of dried sage and thyme, baked earth, leather and a rocky minerality. If you pick up a bottle, your patience will be rewarded. These wines can easily live for 20 years after their harvest, making them one of the ultimate collector's items for those who see wine as time travel in a bottle.
As always, you can see what I'm drinking on Instagram at @sethebarlow and send your wine questions and quibbles to sethebarlowwine@gmail.com