Domaine La Bastide Blanche Bandol
December 4, 2013Our meal last week at The Whale Wins was a winner, as was the wine. As promised, I wanted to share with you this tasty red. The fun thing for me about these wine posts is I get to dig up a bit of information on these wines and vintners I would not usually know. This one in particular is quite interesting, as it is produced by brothers. In the early ’70s Michel and Louis Bronzo acquired the property of the Bastide Blanche, with an eye to producing from appellation Bandol wines the equal of more famous appellations like Chateauneuf. Their efforts were rewarded in 1993 when vintage conditions created the benchmark year to put the Bandol region and Bastide Blanche, in particular, on the map of top producers in France. They have various cuvees, depending on the vintage, but always about 75% Mourvedre at a minimum. The wine was perfect and paired nicely with all the robust flavors the meal offered. From my web research, I am finding the bottles running around the $25 mark, which for a wine from Bandol, is one heck of a value. This is definitely one of those wines that will be on my mental list to buy when I see it, either on the wine shop/grocery shelves or on the menu.