From Aix-en-Provence: Half-day Sidecar Wine Tour
Leave Aix-en-Provence aboard a vintage sidecar and discover the legendary Sainte-Victoire mountain, Cézanne’s muse, along with charming villages and local wine tastings.
Structure
Drinking window
Best 8 to 30 years from vintage.
vintage8 yrs30 yrs32 yrs
Critic scores
No critic score is published for this bottle that we can cite with a reviewer, a vintage and a review year, so none is shown. The rating in the header is our own.
In the glass
Aroma: black cherry, garrigue, leather, violet
Palate: blackberry, pepper, iron, dried herbs
Single-vineyard Mourvedre-dominant cuvee from a south-facing parcel above Le Plan du Castellet. Garrigue, iron and dark fruit over firm, fine-grained tannin and a savoury finish that needs a decade to unfurl.
What it pairs with
-
Daube provencale
Slow-braised beef in red wine and orange peel echoes the cuvee's dried-herb and leather register; firm tannins handle the long-cooked fat. -
Roast leg of lamb with rosemary
Garrigue aromatics in the wine mirror the herb crust; Mourvedre's iron grip cuts through the fat. -
Aged Comte
Hazelnut and brown-butter notes in mature Comte align with the wine's leather and forest-floor depth. -
Wild boar civet
Provencal game stew finds a peer in Tempier's savoury fruit and pepper.
How to serve Tempier La Tourtine
Allow 90 minutes from open to pour.
- Open and decant. Open 90 minutes before serving for vintages under 15 years old; pour into a wide decanter to allow the Mourvedre tannins to settle.
- Serve at 16-18C. Cellar temperature is the band. Warmer pushes alcohol and leather forward; colder shuts down the violet and dark-fruit aromatics.
- Glassware. Use a large Bordeaux-style glass. The wide bowl gives Tempier's savoury complexity room to develop.
- Pair with the food. Daube provencale, roast lamb with rosemary, or aged Comte. Garrigue-led Provencal cooking is the canonical match.
History
Lucien Peyraud isolated La Tourtine as a single-vineyard cuvee in the late 1960s after recognising the parcel's distinct expression on red clay over limestone. The cuvee helped re-establish AOC Bandol's identity as a Mourvedre-led red after the appellation's 1941 founding.
- 1941: AOC Bandol created with Lucien Peyraud as one of the founding signatories
- 1968: First vintage of La Tourtine as a single-vineyard cuvee
Facts
- Producer
- Domaine Tempier · visiting guide
- Grapes
- Mourvedre (80%), Grenache, Cinsault
- Classification
- AOC Bandol
- Oak
- 18 to 24 months in large old oak foudres, no new oak
- ABV
- 14.0%
- Price
- EUR 70 to 110 at retail
- Drinking window
- 8-30 from vintage
- First vintage
- 1968
- Vegan
- Yes (no animal-derived fining)
Frequently asked about Domaine Tempier La Tourtine
What does Tempier La Tourtine taste like?
Black cherry, garrigue, leather and violet on the nose; blackberry, pepper, iron and dried herbs on the palate. Full-bodied with firm tannins, high acidity and a long savoury finish.
When should I drink Tempier La Tourtine?
Drink between 8 and 30 years from vintage. Younger vintages benefit from 90 minutes of decanting; the cuvee genuinely flowers around year 12 to 15.
Is Tempier La Tourtine vegan?
Yes. Tempier does not use animal-derived fining agents on its red cuvees, though the estate does not pursue formal vegan certification.
What food pairs with Tempier La Tourtine?
Daube provencale and slow-roast lamb with rosemary are the canonical pairings; the wine's garrigue notes mirror Provencal herb cooking. Aged Comte and wild boar civet are equally strong matches.
What grapes are in Tempier La Tourtine?
Mourvedre dominant at around 80 percent, completed by Grenache and Cinsault from the single La Tourtine parcel above Le Plan du Castellet.
Tags
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