A powerful Bandol made from 90% Mourvèdre and 10% Grenache, grown on blue Triassic marl in the stone terraces above the Mediterranean. A velvety, complex vin de garde from Éric de Saint Victor’s estate – certified organic since 2019 and particularly long-lived in magnum format.
Ripe dark fruit – blackberry, black cherry, cassis, elderberry and sweet wild raspberry – alongside liquorice, leather, cocoa, tree bark and roasted herbs such as rosemary, thyme and juniper.
Palate
Charming and expansive on the palate; sweet cassis notes meet pronounced tannins and lively acidity, with a primal, animal undertone.
Character
Velvety rather than aggressive, complex rather than loud – a grand, hedonistic Bandol with ageing potential of ten years or more.
Pairing
Wild rabbit with porcini risotto and thyme, pigeon with fried beetroot crisps, or crêpe with Bleu d'Auvergne and blackberries.
Notes
Only the finest, oldest vines from the amphitheatre-shaped terroir at around 250 metres; 20 months’ parcel-by-parcel maturation in barriques, tonneaux and foudres. The magnum format grants this vin de garde additional time to mature.
Tasting note
Colour & appearance
Deep, muted violet-red, dense in colour right to the rim – a wine that announces in the glass it has already had time and deserves yet more.
Nose
A nose you want to dive into: plump blackberry, black cherry and cassis, along with elderberry and a hint of sweet wild raspberry. Beneath lies the spicy Provence – liquorice, leather, cocoa, tree bark and roasted herbs such as rosemary, thyme and juniper.
Palate
Charming and expansive on the palate, with sweet cassis notes, pronounced tannins and lively acidity. Alongside this, a primal, almost animal character – the unmistakable signature of Mourvèdre, which at Pibarnon reveals itself as velvety rather than aggressive, complex rather than loud.
Finish
Long, dense and firmly structured – a Vin de Garde that can mature with even greater patience in magnum format. Ten years are not a threat to this wine, but a promise.
Terroir & origin
Bandol, Provence – from the highest point of the appellation, one looks out over an amphitheatre of vines stretching down to the Mediterranean. The centuries-old restanques (stone terraces), built by hand, climb the slope, each level forming its own microclimate. The vines are rooted at around 250 metres above sea level in blue Triassic marl with clay, limestone and chalk – a soil that is geologically reminiscent of Pétrus.
Grape varieties & vinification
A cuvée of 90% Mourvèdre and 10% Grenache from the estate’s finest and oldest vines. Around three weeks of fermentation, followed by 20 months of ageing – parcel by parcel in carefully matched barriques, tonneaux and foudres of various origins. Éric de Saint Victor, who has run the estate since 2000, and cellar master Marie Laroze bring Burgundian precision to the 220 individual parcels.
Food recommendations
A wine for intensely flavoured cuisine: wild rabbit with porcini risotto and thyme, pigeon with lemon-nougat hollandaise and fried beetroot crisps, or the bolder combination of a crêpe filled with Bleu d’Auvergne and blackberries, served with a wild herb salad.
Special features
The magnum format grants this age-worthy wine additional tranquillity for maturation. The estate has been organically certified since 2019 – and has been honoured with five consecutive gold medals at the Concours Général Agricole in Paris as well as 95 points from Wine Spectator. Anyone wishing to understand Bandol should start here.
