The wine growers dedicate
themselves heart and soul to their land and craft. They perpetuate
the spirit of their elders: they love to see work well done,
patiently, stone by stone, the way the restanques were built
on the hillsides. Most often, the land belongs to families rooted
in wine making traditions. The Bandol appellation is indeed their
common heritage.
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A constant rigour
Together with the scrupulous observance of the appellation regulations,
the wine growers show permanent vigilance to achieve quality. Young
vines intended for the production of red wines are not allowed
in the AOC production until the eighth leaf has appeared on their
trunk. The yields are controlled at each stage of cultivation.
The plantation density must be at least of 5,000 vines per hectare.
Spur pruning, i.e. leaving two-bud spurs on the trunk, is required.
As early as June, the “green harvest” lightens the
burden on the vine: the excess bunches are ruthlessly cut off to
leave only five to six bunches per vine. The wine growers have
a motto that expresses this voluntary limitation of the yield : “One
vine, one bottle”. Chaptalization is banned as well as “any
enrichment or concentration operation, even within the limits of
the legal prescriptions in force”. Machine harvesting is
forbidden : the grapes are picked by hand to obtain a clean and
carefully selected harvest.
Vignerons' wines
However severe the appellation requirements may be, they will not
be sufficient if the vigneron does not take the greatest care of
his production. It is a long time since technology entered the
cellars, allowing a better control of the work and new progress
in quality. Maturation is essential in Bandol, especially for red
wines. The oak barrel, traditionally used in the appellation, requires
great rigour, but is perfectly suited to the tannic structure of
Mourvèdre. Concerning maturation, the vigneron’s know-how
consists in bringing the wine to a state of balance through a process
of slow, natural stabilization. At each stage of the process, wines
are rigorously selected and tasted. They are accepted only if they
meet the requirements of their status. A pre-tasting blind test
is carried out in June of the first year to allow the wine growers
to appreciate the evolution of the vintage. It is a “mock
exam” each wine grower will learn a lesson from.
By running their estates with the utmost rigour, the Bandol wine
producers have taken the Bandol appellation to the top of the French
AOC classification and gained their peers’ respect. The B
for Bandol that can be seen branded on old barrels ranks with other
great Bs. |
