2022 Bandol Organic Rosé, Domaine Lafran-Veyrolles

£21.00 inc. VAT

Here’s a refined, elegant and complex rosé that befits the dining table of a yacht moored in St. Tropez.

Domaine Lafran-Veyrolles is an estate with superb terroir and it is widely recognised as one of the top three producers in the Bandol appellation. Jean-Marie Castell runs this small, traditional (and now 100% organic) estate with just 10ha of vines on the famous red clay soil of Bandol. The estate is nestled in the protective hillsides of the Cadière d’Azur which benefit from a maritime climate where cooling sea breezes extend the hours of ripening and prevent overheating.

Yields for the rosé are a miniscule 37 hl/ha (about the same as Grand Cru Burgundy) and the blend is 70% Mourvédre, 15% Grenache and 15% Cinsault.

The rosé is part saignée (where juice is ‘bled off’ during maceration) and part press. Fermentation is temperature controlled between 18 & 21ºC for 3 weeks and the wine is then kept in cuvée for 6 months before bottling in the spring after the vintage.

The colour of this wine alone is enough to get the taste buds salivating and with its beautiful pale salmon tinge, it just oozes class. An elegant and appealing nose offers touches of wild herbs, delicate, subtle sweet peach and red fruits. This is followed by flavours of warm southern herbs, white pepper spice and soft raspberries. Complex, classy and one to sip slowly as you close your eyes and enjoy that long lunch on your yacht moored in St. Tropez.

Totally stunning.