WTN: 2001 Domaine de Terrebrune, Bandol, France
Originally uploaded by melissa nicole.
Aside from "monopole" appellations like Coulée de Serrant, few wine regions evoke specific wine makers the way Provence's Bandol evokes Domaine Tempier, the winery and restaurant that inspired Richard Olney, Alice Waters, and Kermit Lynch. But of course other producers create wine in the hot, scrubby landscape, harvesting grapes from the few limestone-rich patches not scoured by the ravaging Mistral.
Kermit Lynch added Domaine de Terrebrune to their portfolio last year, and it's already flying out the store. Mourvedre dominates the wine, as it does throughout the region, but wine maker Reynald Delille blended it with small amounts of grenache and cinsault in 2001. Most of the wine aged in neutral-oak foudres for eighteen months, though Delille added some oak with the close confines of a barrique. The vineyards are organic now, but Delille and his brother Georges plan to go biodynamic in 2008.
This ruby-colored wine smells of stinky cheese, with red cherries (and a bit of alcohol) appearing on the medium long finish. I enjoyed this funky wine, but it toes the line of my threshold for Brettanomyces, the yeast that imparts "sweaty" aromas. Everyone's taste for this differs: Judge for yourself. The high acidity and modest, fine-grained tannins will pair well with a wide range of food, as befits a wine from a region known for its great cuisine, but the wine's weight wants a dish with a bit of heft. We envisioned it with lavender-flecked roast chicken, but instead drank it with chicken breasts rubbed in lavender butter. Lavender is a key component of the garrigue, the stark terrain of the region, as well as herbes de Provence. The $22 price tag probably comes from the weak dollar, but it still seems like a good value to me.
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