Top 100 wines of Bandol
Discover the top 100 best wines of Bandol of Bandol as well as the best winemakers in the region. Explore the varietals of the wines that are popular of Bandol and the best vintages to taste in this region.
Discovering the wine region of Bandol
Bandol is a key appellation in the wine region of Provence, in the far southeast of France. Created in 1941, the appellation covers red, white and rosé wines from approximately 1,550 hectares of vineyards located around the coastal town of Bandol on the Mediterranean coast. These are spread unevenly over eight communes in the Var dePartment, the majority being located just North of Bandol, in Le Beausset, La Cadière-d'Azur, Le Castellet and Évenos. Bandol is best known for its red wines, which constitute the majority of the appellation's production.
These contain a high proportion of Mourvèdre - the appellation rules require at least 50%. Using this amount of such a Spicy and Powerful grape makes for a wine with Character that is difficult to produce in any other part of France. Mourvèdre will only ripen reliably in a Climate as sunny and Warm as that which prevails along the Mediterranean coast. Grenache is the other main component of Bandol's red (and rosé) wines.
Discover the grape variety: Marsanne
Marsanne is a white grape variety that originated in Montélimar in the Drôme, several centuries ago. Marsanne is also found in Cassis, Savoie, Languedoc-Roussillon and Saint-Péray in the Ardèche, where it produces remarkable sparkling wines. The warm, sunny climate of the Rhone Valley, Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence, as well as the dry, stony soil, are ideal conditions for its development. Its bunches are quite large and provide small, juicy berries that are sensitive to grey rot and strong winds. These two grape varieties complement each other perfectly: together they give light wines with little acidity, aromas of yellow fruit, white fruit and flowers with notes of honey and liquorice. This is for example what the appellations Saint-Péray, Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage, Saint-Joseph, Côtes-du-Vallée du Rhône, Corbières, or Cassis express... which represent about 700 hectares.
Food and wine pairing with a wine of Bandol
wines from the region of Bandol go well with generally quite well with dishes of beef, lamb or spicy food such as recipes of beef lark, shoulder of lamb with a spoon or shrimp marinade.
News from the vineyard of Bandol
Andrew Jefford: ‘Rosé, for the time being, is a pretty babble’
Many wine styles can seem perplexing at first: imagine the first bottle of Barolo if you only know Barossa Shiraz, or the first bottle of Jura Savagnin if you were brought up on California Chardonnay. With time, thought and repeated tasting, though, comes understanding. You learn each wine’s syntax and lexicon, its hints and inferences. You grasp the ways in which each style communicates. Its beauty dawns, then grows. Rosé wine sales grew 23% worldwide between 2002 and 2019. Its fuel has come fr ...
Platinum: The 97 point wines of DWWA 2022
The largest-ever year for entries, an incredible 18,244 wines were judged at the 2022 Decanter World Wine Awards – with just 163 wines awarded a Platinum medal. ‘Winning a Platinum medal is something really exceptional’ said Decanter World Wine Awards Co-Chair Sarah Jane Evans MW. ‘Platinum is like the stratospheric level’ she commented, ‘so it’s really saying to the winemaker: this is a great wine.’ Making up just 0.87% of the total wines tasted at the 2022 c ...
Kylie Minogue launches her wine range in the US
The ‘Spinning Around’ singer launched the wines on her birthday in 2020 as part of a collaboration with London-based Benchmark Drinks. The firm, founded by former Accolade Wines chief executive Paul Schaafsma, specialises in celebrity partnerships. It has also launched wines in tandem with Sarah Jessica Parker, Ian Botham and Graham Norton. Yet the Kylie Minogue range has been one of the star performers, selling 3.5 million bottles in the UK and a further 1.5 million bottles in 15 international ...