An evening of Tempier

Bill Lundstrom

Bill Lundstrom

Bill Lundstrom
A friend of mine who has a very deep collection of Tempier sponosred a dinner in Philadlephia. The event was held at a old chocolate factory in the arts district in near the Northern Liberties section of the city. 25 foot ceilings , exposed brick, huge windows, refinished random width pine floors made for a casual but memorable back drop.

i'm not much for tasting notes but i thought these wines would be of interest to you guys. so here goes.....

reception:
2012 Tempier Blanc
served with Onion Tart, Brandade, Tapenade and Lentil Salad.
I've only had the Tempier Blanc once before so this was new to me.
Waxy, white flowers, pretty tight at first, opened up after 20 minutes or so and showed some white pepper, racy acidity and pleasing mineral tones.

2012, 2011, 2008 Tempier Rose (all from magnum)
with Charcuterie, grilled Octopus, blood orange and fennel salad.
I love Tempier rose but had never seen it in Magnum before.

2012, tight, tomato vine on the nose, crisp a bit unyeliding tonight.
2011 open, tomato vine still, tinglely acidity, nice finish. lovely. especially with the food
2008 oldest Tempier rose i've tatsed, can never keep my mitts off mine, this was damn good. the vegetal (i alweays get tomato vine or vegetal aromas from young tempier) aroma was replaced by a savory, mildly caramel note. some saline, pretty subtle red fruits. soft on the palate, delicious.

seated dinner.
All wines from magnum in every flight
All food cooked from LuLu's Table

Flight 1
Cuvee Classique
2011, 2010, 2008. with monk fish bourride

2011: bramblely, young, tight, but deep red fruits, zin like. delicious.
2010: a bit funky, some horse hair, dark red fruits.
2005: very dry, pretty dried flowers, savory notes, long finish.

Flight 2
Cuvee Classique
2009, 2007, 1998.
with braised rabbit, cabbage, pancetta

2009: Alcholoic, ripe, big red fruits, not very balanced
2007: fresh, vibrant, ripe, still young, not really in balance and maybe just not ready to drink yet
1998: wow! really good wine. drinking very well, long finish. complex earthy notes, really well balanced. could go many years i think. really lovely.

Flight 3
with Roasted squab, farro, spinach
2008 La Tourtine: light, closed, soft tannin, raspberry, not showing really well tonight.
2007 La Migoua: pretty, deep red fruits, savory notes, really pretty perfume on the nose. subtle but complex too. really nice
2006 La Migoua: reticent at first, but opens into a gem of a wine. savory, complex, firm structure, a touch of salinity. my notes may not do this justice, as this was very, very good.
2006 La Tourtine: Lovely deep red fruits, profoundly complex, big structure with balancing acidity. great wine.
2004 La Tourtine: a bit funky, barn yard aromas, saline, red fruits. couldnt figure this one out.

Flight 4
with Lamb Loin, roasted potato
2001 La Migoua: my French Friend seated next to me said "garrigue!" also, soft, mature and pretty red fruits. i liked this a lot. a touch of licorice here too.
the rest of flight only has one word descriptors. sorry, i was beginning to afde at this point.
2001 La Tourtine: complex, mature, drinking well
2003 Cabassaou: wild, lots of herbal notes, some licorice? nebbiolo-ish?
2000 Cabassaou: damn good. thats all i wrote here
1998 Cabassaou: i wrote " wish i tasted this earlier"

i believe dessert was served.

this was the most tempier ive ever drunk in my whole life. very imformative. wonderful evening. my french friend mumbled something in french as he left. i said whats that mean? "epic, bill, epic"
 
Understatement = nice Sounds like a fine evening. I don't recall a Tempier evening of that magnitude, would have been interesting as hell.
 
Lou, it was incrediblely interesting.

As you can imagine , the food was a perfect match for the wines. It really enhanced the experience.
 
originally posted by BJ:
Deep collection, but all drunk too young.
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What's BJs mourvedre rule? Obviously, the rule of 15 doesn't apply here.

Also, is 2007 considered a top vintage in Bandol? The two Pradeaux from this vintage are fantastic wines. Probably won't change my buying habits, but I'm curious since there isn't much coverage of Bandol and one usually just extrapolates from the southern Rhone.
 
I stumbled onto a tasting of the 2007 Tempiers on release and was quite impressed, but I don't taste young Bandol often.
 
Nice notes. I still have a 2008 rose stashed away. Glad to hear it's doing well.
The meals from Lulu's cookbook is a nice touch.
 
originally posted by VLM:

Also, is 2007 considered a top vintage in Bandol?
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Yes sir.
Top recents vintages in Bandol are 98, 01, 04 & 07.
07 is a big one.
Usually Tempier need cellaring (15-20 years). But since 2000, it's the "new" Tempier. 100% éraflé, new vat (foudres)... to have a more "open" and "clean" wine.
I tasted 07 regular and Tourtine (7 vintages after the re-birth). Both seems a little bit woody and uncleaned (brett...).
Best regards
pierre-alain benoit
 
Had the 93 Tourtine last week and it was still young, though of course that is a classic Bandol vintage for long aging. It more than held it's own in a group of wines that included Jayer, Rouget, and Jasmin, so it's serious juice. Not my cellar, or tasting, alas.
 
originally posted by Brian Greenwood:
Had the 93 Tourtine last week and it was still young, though of course that is a classic Bandol vintage for long aging. It more than held it's own in a group of wines that included Jayer, Rouget, and Jasmin, so it's serious juice. Not my cellar, or tasting, alas.
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That's the million dollars question : new Tourtine = old Tourtine ?
 
My rules are changing. Hard though it is to admit, VLM is rubbing off on me a bit. Drinking them a touch younger and fresher. Particularly Burgundy, Loire reds, some CNP. I'm still holding though to the Rule of 15 for quality N Rhones.

Regarding Bandol, I'm probably a rule of 20-25 guy for better vintages, though I probably would have opened the 98 Tempier classique (and indeed have and enjoyed). I would think late 90s in some vintages would be great. If memory serves had the 97 Pradeaux a couple of years back in Paris and it was terrific. We had a slew of 80s Tempier about three years ago and it was just sublime. Recent bottles of 93 Bastide Blanche Longue Garde were the tops.

My favorite under the radar Bandol is John Paul Gaussen. Classic, in a Rosenthalian kind of way.
 
originally posted by BJ:


My favorite under the radar Bandol is John Paul Gaussen. Classic, in a Rosenthalian kind of way.
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Love the Gaussen. First time at M Wells Steak I was looking over the list and I recognized about half of the list while the other half was a mystery. The wines that I knew were all great choices so I asked Etienne to pick something for me that I hadn't had. He picked the 07 Longue Garde and hot damn. Classic mourvedre. Half of it played the tease while the other half screamed Provence.

The 07 was from a distributor that was new to me, Skurnik has the 08 non Longue Garde.
 
originally posted by BJ:
Recent bottles of 93 Bastide Blanche Longue Garde were the tops.
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I'm happy to hear this, as I have a lone bottle bottle left and felt like I rushed the earlier ones.
 
originally posted by BJ:
My rules are changing. Hard though it is to admit, VLM is rubbing off on me a bit. Drinking them a touch younger and fresher. Particularly Burgundy, Loire reds, some CNP. I'm still holding though to the Rule of 15 for quality N Rhones.
Click to expand...

VICTORY!

Regarding Bandol, I'm probably a rule of 20-25 guy for better vintages, though I probably would have opened the 98 Tempier classique (and indeed have and enjoyed). I would think late 90s in some vintages would be great. If memory serves had the 97 Pradeaux a couple of years back in Paris and it was terrific. We had a slew of 80s Tempier about three years ago and it was just sublime. Recent bottles of 93 Bastide Blanche Longue Garde were the tops.
Click to expand...

I found the 2007 Pradeaux dense, but not unapproachable. The 2006 was the best young Pradeaux I've ever had. Is that 20-25 from vintage, or from release?

I think I'll try tucking into mine at about age 10, but am more hopeful for age 15. Unlike the 1989 and 1990, which were the first Pradeaux I had on release, these recent vintages have not been like having a mouthful of sand, so I think there may be a more general trend towards more approachable, but I don't know the facts on the ground nor anyone who actually makes this stuff.

My favorite under the radar Bandol is John Paul Gaussen. Classic, in a Rosenthalian kind of way.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip.
 
The 98 Classique is very good. had one within the past year and think I wrote that it still felt young.
 
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