With spring just around the corner, my pick for this Mourvèdre Monday is a lovely little Bandol rosé. Bandol, located within Provence, is France’s only wine region where Mourvèdre is the dominant grape. In other words, heaven. I couldn’t find the exact varietal composition of this bottle, but the Bandol AOC regulations require at least 50% Mourvèdre in its red and rosé wines (the rest most often Grenache and/or Cinsault).
Château des Baumelles 2010 Bandol Rosé
The gorgeous coral pink color of this wine entices before the first sniff. Citrus and red fruit drive the nose and palate, with a nice mineral core and plenty of twangy, bright acidity. In fact, one might just call it lip-smackingly good. I wish I had more of this for the Austin spring/summer ahead. If you see some, grab it. Around $18-20. VINEgeek Approved.
It’s intensely-flavoured, velvety wine, with aromas that subliminally hint at 6B pencils, Parade Gloss boot polish, and freshly-polished horse tack. Its fruits are somewhere between the rooty-fruity fragrance of borscht – cool beetroot soup with yoghurt – and the meaty twang of blueberry. Its flavours are somewhere between those fleeting notions, inked with the reek of times and tastes past: it’s nostalgic stuff, with soft tannins that remind me of the grainy images in old movies. It’s never heavy, jammy, or gloopy. It’s the sort of red I can drink in the morning, without food, just for its powerful memory triggers. I could have it instead of lunch, or with some, in which instance Wah Hing tea-smoked duck comes immediately to mind. I could have it in the afternoon, with or without Alison Paxton’s exquisite Kangarilla Creamery goat cheese from next door, and then, come to think of it, I could have it with dinner, with dribbly lamb cutlets and mash. In other words, I recommend it. Trust Unca Phil.
