I’ve been tasting newly-released Tempiers for each of the past forty years, and I can’t recall wines quite like the 2106 reds.These wines are more tannic and backward than I can recall for young Tempier. The wines were always drinkable young, even if they had plenty of potential for improvement, but this vintage really is for the future, especially the special cuvée wines.
Notably, the estate is now using large ovals made by the excellent Stockinger firm in Austria. For southern French wines, I have found no cooperage that comes anywhere close to Stockinger.
Tempier is now biodynamic.
2018 Bandol rosé
This is the best young Tempier rosé since at least 2012, maybe the best that I can ever recall. Perfumed and floral in the nose, in the mouth the wine is light and elegant, but at the same time very intense and penetrating with peach fruit and some strawberry and raspberry overtones. Bandol rosé often takes two or three years in bottle to really come around, but this one is already magnificent, although I would recommend decanting, if possible. 13% stated alcohol. 91(+)/A
2017 Bandol rosé
The 2017 rosé is much more powerful and intense than the 2018 and less floral and elegant. The wine is mineral and deep with rose and peach flavors, a medium-light body, and good density. It seems to me more a rosé for autumn than for the summer, and this one may age well. I’d decant an hour or two before serving or else plan on cellaring this wine for a couple of years. 13.5% stated alcohol. Lot S 1701. 89/A-
2016 Bandol red
There’s plenty of dark fruit here with a little earth, and once gets by the tannins, some creaminess of texture that recalls La Migoua in other vintages. But this wine ideally needs more time in the bottle. 11-14% stated alcohol. Lot LR 16 02. 91/A-
2016 Bandol La Migoua red
The 2016 Migoua's concentration, presumably to the drought over the summer, makes this a closed and powerful Migoua, with time needed for the classic sensual texture to begin to show through. The nose is deep and inky. The mouth shows has violets and dark fruits, including dark plums, that are pure, deep intense, and precise. But be forewarned, there's also a fair amount of tannin, suggesting that some years in the cellar will be needed. 11-14% stated alcohol. Lot LR 16 04. 95/A+
2016 Bandol La Tourtine red
With its greater Mourvèdre content than the Migoua (80% vs. 50%), the Tourtine is more structured and tannic than the two preceding wines. Very stony in the nose, it has a smooth texture, concentration, density of its dark fruit, minerality, iodide, and real drive. 11-14% stated alcohol. Plenty of structure here. Lot LR 16 03. 95/A+
2016 Bandol Cabassaou red
The Cabassaou has the highest percentage of Mourvèdre (95%) of all the estate’s wines. The wine is deep, penetrating, inky, and stony in its aromas. But the mouth for the moment is more closed than the Migoua, indicating substantial cellar time should be expected. 95/A+
2017 Bandol blanc
Formerly an extreme rarity, there now is enough production of this wine that it can be found with a little effort. The wine is mineral, and spicy, light on the palate, intense, and smooth. 60% Clairette, 19% Bourboulenc, 18% Ugni Blanc, and 3% Marsanne. 89/A-