Open Mike: Bandol Rose

I will be opening '03 Tempier rose this weekend and will post a WTN. Anyone wanting to try the same wine or a different Bandol rose is welcome.
Walt

[Robin Garr]

I will be opening '03 Tempier rose this weekend and will post a WTN. Anyone wanting to try the same wine or a different Bandol rose is welcome.

Thanks for jumping on the Open Mike wagon, Walt. I don't know if I can find the Tempier here, but I definitely want to grab one soon, and if I can dig one up, I'm in.

Tough wine according to Wine Searcher Pro -- which lists one stockist in Syosset, NY. A store in Bernardsville has

Winery: La Bastide Blanche
Style: Rose
Varietal: Mourvedre
Region: Provence

I'm assuming this would be comprable, right Walt? I know Bandol is in Provence, but your Bandol Rose is new to me.

Thanks, Bob

I'm assuming this would be comprable, right Walt? I know Bandol is in Provence, but your Bandol Rose is new to me.

Thanks, Bob

Bob,
Tempier is the premier grower in Bandol. I am surprised you can't find it. We get it every year here in St. Louis and usually all of Tempier's wines as they have an estate and then some single vineyard stuff in rouge. Great Mouvedre and ages for a very long time. Worth the effort to try it. The rose is usally about $22, estate rouge about $28-30 and the single vineyard stuff $50. The Tempier rose is the only rose I age, seems best with a few years on it. The other roses I buy are usually about $12 and are destined for immediate drinking.
Walt
PS Certainly a rose from Provence would work. I think the rose is all mouvedre.

I'll look further then, Walt. My favorite New Jersey shop said that it was very hard to get from distributors here, and that there wasn't much call for Tempier.

I'll touch base with some New York City shops -- folks that don't list with Wine Searcher Pro.

Thanks. Bob

[Robin Garr]

I'll look further then, Walt. My favorite New Jersey shop said that it was very hard to get from distributors here, and that there wasn't much call for Tempier.

Bob, it's a Kermit Lynch import, perhaps one of Kermit's first imports. I'm amazed at what your shop said. (Was it Wine Ventures?) It's probably allocated and not easy to get, so maybe that's the problem.

He may have meant not in his selling area, Robin -- it was Joel Mitchell at Beekman in Glen Rock. He introduces folks to lots of new and interesting wines, but certainly doesn't speak for any larger area. (And, to be clear, he was talking only about Tempier Rose, not the other labels.)

Did you see it on many of the shops of Wine Searcher Pro?

By the way, I searched through the Lynch site and don't see any of the rose on offer -- and unless I'm not searching properly, none offered in the past issues.

Regards, Bob

Looking forward to reading some tasting notes on the Bandol Rose. I could have picked one up this afternoon if I had known. Plan #1 is the Renwood Viognier for Wine Focus, Plan # 2 is to tidy up all those stray bottles on the kitchen countertop!! Usually I pr on a friday night at the Grill but not too busy with the Taste of Edmonton going on. Kills business.

*** the rose I saw was the Bunan. Love the white!

The 03 Tempier Rose is frankly not my cup of tea. It reflects the 03 summer in Europe. I personally thought it was one of the weakest Roses that Tempier has made in years.

I'll look further then, Walt. My favorite New Jersey shop said that it was very hard to get from distributors here, and that there wasn't much call for Tempier.

Bob, it's a Kermit Lynch import, perhaps one of Kermit's first imports. I'm amazed at what your shop said. (Was it Wine Ventures?) It's probably allocated and not easy to get, so maybe that's the problem.

It wasn't Kermit's first import (I'm reading his compiled sales brochures, so I have that info handy), but certainly an early one. I don't think that the Tempier rosé gets terribly widespread distribution in the US because of its price and color. OTOH, I did see it recently at Sam's, albeit selling for close to $30.

Mark Lipton

Tough wine according to Wine Searcher Pro -- which lists one stockist in Syosset, NY. A store in Bernardsville has

Winery: La Bastide Blanche
Style: Rose
Varietal: Mourvedre
Region: Provence

I'm assuming this would be comprable, right Walt? I know Bandol is in Provence, but your Bandol Rose is new to me.

La Bastide Blanche is also in Bandol, though I can't say that I've had their rosé. Still, it should make for a decent comparison. If you can find any of Kermit Lynch's imported Bandols, you're usually pretty well off: Tempier, Terrerbrune, Gros Noré and Tour du Bon all make good rosés.

Mark Lipton

[Robin Garr]

Did you see it on many of the shops of Wine Searcher Pro?

Bob, there were a few hits, but in my opinion, Wine-Searcher is better for checking prices, or finding online vendors, than looking for local sources - because its hits are international, the chances of finding the wine you want at a local bricks-and-mortar retailer aren't strong, it seems to me.

By the way, I searched through the Lynch site and don't see any of the rose on offer -- and unless I'm not searching properly, none offered in the past issues.

Remember that Kermit is both an importer and a retailer. I'm guessing that the Tempier Rosé is too tightly allocated for him to sell retail. It probably all goes to wholesale accounts.

I've sent Lynch an email and asked how to get the rose. Might be fun to see how he distributes it. I'll revert.

Regards, Bob

The 03 Tempier Rose is frankly not my cup of tea. It reflects the 03 summer in Europe. I personally thought it was one of the weakest Roses that Tempier has made in years.

Lou,
Was it worse than '02?. I have not had the '03 but thought the '02 was a somewhat "non existent" wine with little fruit and deluted. You aren't giving me much to look forward to.
Walt

[Robin Garr]

The 03 Tempier Rose is frankly not my cup of tea. It reflects the 03 summer in Europe. I personally thought it was one of the weakest Roses that Tempier has made in years.

Was it worse than '02?. I have not had the '03 but thought the '02 was a somewhat "non existent" wine with little fruit and deluted. You aren't giving me much to look forward to.

Without having tasted the Tempier but having been through a lot of weird '02s and wacky '03s from the Loire, Burgundy and the Rhone, I don't see how you can compare. Is a thin, tart and dilute '02 "worse" than a fat, bizarrely Californicated '03? You decide.

Light peach-pink in color. Mouth filling fruit flavors of ripe melon and spicey orange citrus. Very long finish, not to be expected with a rose. This is a big wine and only got bigger and more pronounced as it warmed. I really liked this wine and it will hold up to the roast chicken but not what I expected. Bigger fruit but not as crisp or defined as some I have had in the past. Feel it was showing the hot weather of '03. Kermit Lynch import and stated 11-14% on the label which is a waste of label space. Would guess it was in the 13% range. Liked it much better than the deluted '02 but not as well as my favorite '01. I drink rose every summer and only the latest vintage as for $12-13 they are best young. Tempier is the exception and can be held for 3-4 years. I expect this wine will not get any better and best consumed now.
Walt

[Jenise]

Walt, nice note, about what Lou predicted I guess. Just back from shopping and the bad news is that I didn't find the Tempier. The good news is that I did find an '05 Bastide Blanche. Will taste and report tomorrow.

Thanks for the note, Walt; I'm still looking for an example and will post a Tempier Rosé tasting note here in due course.

In the meantime, I've been doing some research about aging Tempier
rosé. I found this extract from Lynch's newsletter particularly interesting in view of the three to four year holding period you mention for this wine:

We began with the Tempier Rosé vintages 2003, 2002, 2000 and 1999 while the two vintners talked Rosé theory and vinification. Then Jean-Marie dug out a 1990. Hmm, fourteen years old, still good, better than good. Age a Rosé?

When we got to my place for lunch I pulled a magnum of 1983 Tempier Rosé out of my cellar. Spectacular! Believe it or not, it is complex, fascinating, and delicious at 21. It is not old. It is fine with being 21. In this brochure about seven years ago I wrote about draining an old Tempier Rosé with Richard Olney, Lulu, and Jean-Marie. It was one of Lucien’s Rosé 1953. We inhaled it.

Seems amazing to me. Thanks for the education.

Regards, Bob

IIRC, Kermit has claimed that the Tempier Rose can go a decade or more. ... and that some of the best he had were the older ones.... I've never been able to hold on to one that long, however.

The '05 is available now, and the price is significantly lower (by about $5) than the last few vintages.

It isn't only Tempier's Rosé which ages well. I've tasted a Bunan Rosé from IIRC 1989 which was sublime at age 14. Also Musar's ages well, so it's not only Bandols which can do so. So what other roses (sparkling excepted) age well? Any others, or have now covered the freaks?

-O-

I attended a wonderful tasting of Sparkling Shiraz in the Barossa five years ago. I never typed up my notes, but we tasted about 25 different wines, some 15 years old. The older ones had a depth and complexity that was quite remarkable.

Regards, Bob

Otto, your appreciation for Musar has made me curious. My local wine shop has a '95 and a '97... any recos???

Otto, your appreciation for Musar has made me curious. My local wine shop has a '95 and a '97... any recos???

Rosé? Or red? The 95 of both is sublime, but very young. I thought the 97 rosé hadn't been released yet, so I'm assuming you're speaking of the red. It's ok, but was a very warm year so it can be a bit raisiny. Some rave about it, I've thought it only good in the most recent tastes. The 95 red is a little bit closed, so if you buy that, decant it for about 6-8 hours (but store it at cellar temperature while it is in the decanter). The 97 is still open, but will probably shut down soon, so about an hour's decanting is necessary (and up to 12 is good!) but it should be very enjoyable now. I'd try the 97 now to see if you like the style. If you do, then buy all the 95 you can and start opening them in 2-3 years. All this assuming that it's the red you've got there.

Otto, I'm guessing they are red.. here is the info.

CHATEAU MUSAR 1997 Lebanon 750 $31.99 $

CHATEAU MUSAR 1995 GASTON HOCHAR Lebanon 750 $39.99

Thanx for the input!! And sorry to others for the thread drift.