Chateau Barthès Bandol 2020 375 mL

Made from 50+ year-old vines with about 85 % Mourvèdre together with 10 % Grenache and a dash of Syrah. It is the Mourvèdre here which gives the wine backbone with the late ripening Syrah adding freshness and structure enabling the wine to age effortlessly for a decade or more.

The vineyards of Chateau Barthès surround not only the hillsides of Le Beausset but also around the slopes and the villages which are north and north-east facing high above the port town of Bandol. These are among the highest vineyards in the appellation which face due north and north east. It is these much higher and cooler sites where the vineyards have a base of limestone contributing outstanding freshness and structure. Bottled unlined and unfiltered.

Created from scratch in 1972, Château Barthès evolves in the expert hands of Philippe Barthès. He watches over 28 hectares of vines spread between Le Beausset, Le Castellet, La Cadière and Sanary in the east of the appellation where limestone terroir and outcrops are so prominent. As a vibrant tribute to his mother, Monique Barthès who died in 2021, Philippe Barthès continues his work, with a boldness that he must have inherited. Model for Dior and Nina Ricci, Monique Barthès left Paris for Le Beausset and learned the profession of winemaker for love. This touch of femininity is found on the tiara which today adorns the labels of Château Barthès wines.

Bandol is regarded as the First Growth of Provence producing the most serious, and well known, wines of Provence. The Mourvèdre grape variety is the basis of great Bandol with appellation laws requiring a minimum of 50 % for the red wines (though many use up to 100 % for some cuvées). As well as Mourvèdre (80 %), the Chateau Barthès red also has a dash of Grenache (15 %), and Syrah (5 %). The wine is aged for 18 months in old 60 hl wooden barrels (foudres). There are no new barriques used.

The domaine has been working in sustainable viticulture for many years with traditional goblet pruning for the vines. Philippe places a heavy emphasis on ploughing and working the soil in the springtime. All grapes are hand harvested and sorted and bought quickly to the winery where the grapes are moved onto a vibrating table to remove unwanted material before being de-stemmed. The must of the rose and white are first cooled with the rose spending 24 hours on skins before fermentation.