Wine Region: Provence, Bandol - France
Grape: 90% Mourvedre,10 % Grenache | Organic.
Tasting notes:This is Pibarnon’s top wine, and one of the great ‘mountain Bandols’. It’s a blend of 90% Mourvèdre and 10% Grenache drawn from the estate’s high-altitude restanques. The altitude, the influence of the sea and the limestone/clay soils all bring a freshness and purity that is rare among Mediterranean reds. This cuvée is based only on the fruit of the oldest vines and finest terraces of Château de Pibarnon, including Bel-Air, La Grande Paguette, La Falaise, Les Pointes Blanches, Le Col and Les Dolmens.
Expert Ratings:
Wine Enthusiast 90/100
"While the wine is a touch gamy, it also has a ripe, fruity character. There is a touch of wood, underlining the acidity and juicy red fruits. The finish brings out the richness of the vintage."
Wine Advocate 94/100
" Another awesome wine is the 2009 Bandol, which is much more in the style of the exuberant, sexy 2011 than the cooler, serious 2010. Notes of salted meats, exotics spices, licorice, currants and plums all emerge from this deep, full-bodied, concentrated and sexy beauty. It has the fruit and texture to impress today, yet will cruise for another 10-15 years. (JD)"
About the winery: The breathtaking beauty of the Pibarnon vineyard and the orginality of its exceptional terroir are gathered in the majesty of its wines.
The origin of the refinement and elegance of Pibarnon wines lies in its captivating site overlooking the Mediterranean, where the vines, planted on restanques (traditional Provençal dry-stone retaining walls) up to 300 metres above sea level, live in perfect symbiosis with a carefully preserved ecosystem and an exceptional local soil. Those factors on their own would justify the estate's classification as a "clos” or a "climate”, like the great wines of Burgundy.
The art of working with vines...
At Pibarnon, they know that great wines are made first in the vine. The vines are trained into a straw cup with four bunches per plant. A wire enables the leaves to climb up and ventilate the bunches, to protect them from disease and encourage ripening. The vine is cultivated naturally by hand, without weed killers or chemicals, by a team of five people dedicated to vineyard work. The production rate is still small, between 31 hl/ha and 38 hl/ha, depending on the year, as for all great wines. That means practising a "green harvest” in early summer, removing future bunches before they ripen, and promotes proper ripening and adequate sugar concentration in the four bunches that remain on the plant. The soils are alive because they are fed with manure to encourage animal bacteria. It goes without saying that harvesting is done by hand on the hillsides every year by the same team of vineyard workers who sort and select the best bunches on foot, thus ensuring a healthy harvest.
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