Chateau de Pibarnon Bandol Rose Nuances 2019

Producer Profile

Pibarnon is Bandol’s highest vineyard at 300 metres, an amphitheatre of vines facing the Mediterranean. Vineyards planted in this way generally trap heat, creating a cauldon effect, but at Pibarnon, the amphitheatre provides shelter from the regions strong winds, blowing down the Rhone Valley. Bandol is strongly associated with rose grown on predominantly limestone soils, but Pibarnon’s is different. In fact everything about Pibarnon is different, unique and delicious, without doubt, one of the region’s finest producers.

The estates elevation and proximity to the sea moderates what could be an otherwise ferocious climate. Warm days, yet cool nights frame the wines with an uncommon perfumed freshness, grace and hidden power. The soils are Trias, a Triassic limestone, rich in minerals and microfossils. The sub soil, Les Marnes Bleus, a blue clay, low in pH with excellent water holding capacity. Every potential vinous extreme it seems, is tempered by the estate’s remarkable location.

The vineyard is mostly planted to Clairette and Bouboulenc for whites and Mourvedre, Cinsault and Grenache for the red and rose wines. Organic from 2019, Pibarnon also employs some biodynamic methods, including ploughing by horse, but is not certified. Winemaking is minimal and simple. Natural fermentation and ageing in neutral large format French oak and amphorae.

Great producers are emblematic of their region, yet have an identity all their own. Pibarnon’s wines possess a grace and refinement simply unmatched in all of Bandol. With intense, bright aromatics, a texture that is supple and yet gifts the wine its shape and length. They are wines of incredible purity, personality and power, with all the sensuous wildness, warmth and generosity of the south.