2014 La Bastide Blanche Bandol

Community Tasting Notes (16) Avg Score: 88.3 points

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  1/6/2024 - Karl Rossmann Likes this wine: 86 Points

  Full bodied wine with dark fruit, licorice, pencil lead in the long finish. Tannins have softened over the years. Yet still a bit wild considering slightly harsch alcohol and actually a tiny, tiny bubbly mouthfeel.

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  10/7/2022 - Hampe wrote: 89 Points

  Mörkt röd med begynnande tegeltoner i kanten. Fruktig och något utvecklad doft. Luktar sydfranskt. Mörka blå och röda bär, peppar, örter från franska köket, kanel, lagerblad. Balanserad syra, skapligt balanserade tanniner, medelfylligt. Finishen är medellång och väl bitter, svart te-liknande, i övrigt lik smakmässigt doften om än doften utlovar mer än vad smaken levererar. Något stickig alkohol. Inte riktigt min stil, i vart fall inte utan tyngre mat.

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  1/18/2020 - forceberry wrote: 89 Points

  Made from biodynamically farmed grapes; mainly Mourvèdre along with a little bit of Grenache and a dash of Cinsaut. Fermented with natural yeasts over three weeks with skin maceration. Aged in 600-liter oak barrels and larger oak foudres for 18-24 months. 14,5% alcohol.
  
  Slightly translucent black cherry color. The nose feels ripe but surprisingly closed with reticent aromas of dusty earth, some sweet dark berries, a little bit of brambly black raspberry, light sweet notes of blueberries and a hint of licorice. The wine is juicy, full-bodied and quite sinewy on the palate with rather concentrated and chewy overall feel and ripe yet not sweet flavors of blackberries, some fresh dark plums, a little bit of extracted, spicy and somewhat peppery bitterness, light stony mineral tones, a hint of gamey meat and a touch of licorice. The wine is high in acidity with firm, moderately grippy medium tannins. The finish is dry, moderately grippy and quite tough with long flavors of fresh blackberries, some stony minerality, a little bit of savory game, light peppery tones, a hint of chokeberry bitterness and a sweeter touch of blueberry.
  
  A nice, serious and somewhat understated Bandol that feels quite tough, yet retains nice silky quality due to its juicy, ripe fruit. Pure and fresh in style, but aromatically rather subdued, especially when compared to my previous taste 3½ years ago. Perhaps in a slump right now? At least the wine really doesn't show much developed characteristics at the moment, which gives promise for future development. Although lacking the charm of the previous taste, the wine is still very good and I have no doubts this will improve from here if given enough age. It's not unlikely I just caught the wine in a less optimal spot. Priced according to its quality at 17,64€.

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  8/19/2018 - isaacjamesbaker wrote: 90 Points

  Mourvedre & More: So smoky and beefy on the nose (definitely some brett, but it’s not overwhelming), with black cherries, roasted red peppers. Super grippy on the palate, this was by far the heaviest wine of the night (as expected), and really needs more time. Medium acidity keeps it lively. Lots of smoky, roasted herbs, earth, violets, charcoal. Massive, young but yummy.

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  2/10/2018 - Hoogey wrote: 87 Points

  Mature now. Wouldn’t save it. But kept in room temperature. Rich, dried cherries and vanilla with a slight hint of rubber. Almost South African taste to it.

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