Description
Domaine Bunan, Bandol Rosé “Moulin des Costes”
Domaine Bunan’s “Moulin des Costes” is the latest gem that re-confirms one of SommSelect’s most deeply held convictions: that great Bandol rosé is not just a perfect, year-round thirst-quencher but also a serious wine of terroir. It’s now the season where seemingly endless waves of innocuous pink quaffers storm the market, which also makes it the perfect time to remind you just how complex, layered, and age-worthy Bandol rosé can be.
Frankly, Bandol is one of the last genuinely great bastions in the world of wine that still offers benchmark, best-in-class bottles under $40. With Certified Organic fruit shepherded into bottle by three generations of the Bunan family, “Moulin des Costes” pulls off the ultimate rosé balancing act by combining vivacious refreshment with enriching texture and nuance. While we often contend that great rosé is better in its “second spring” (a year after release), Bunan’s 2021 bottling is raring to go now, but will also provide deep pleasure for many springs to come. Buy accordingly!
Domaines Bunan is the sort of bucolic, family-run estate too often glossed over in the story of rosé’s global takeover. Located in the tiny medieval hamlet Le Castellet, it was initially purchased by brothers Paul and Pierre Bunan in 1961. Paul’s children, Laurent and Francoise, are at the helm now, and it was Laurent who pushed the family operation into the upper echelon of pink production. After studying enology at home and in California, he returned to convert every inch of the family’s 14.5 hectares to organic and biodynamic farming. Laurent’s drive, combined with the sheer beauty of the raw materials at his disposal (50+-year-old vines of Mourvèdre, Grenache, and Cinsault) have placed Bunan comfortably alongside fellow Bandol legends like Tempier, Pradeaux, and Pibarnon.
The old vineyards here, surrounded by ancient stone walls, dig their roots deep into the region’s energy-imbuing mixture of sandy pebbles and deep limestone. Smoothly coasting to ripeness under the blasting sun, constantly buffeted by cooling winds off the Meditteranean, the famously fussy and late-ripening Mourvèdre develops singularly Provençal flavors of garrigue, black olive, and lavender. Tense acidity and salty minerality commingle with ripe fruit to produce one of the most singular experiences in wine. Anyone who knows the pleasure of textural yet fresh Meditteranean wines like Assyrtiko or Vermentino will be perfectly at home here. I find it sometimes helps to think of Bandol not as rosé per se, but simply as profound wine that just so happens to be pink. No doubt we love red Bandol here at SommSelect and have offered plenty, but it’s Mourvèdre’s rosé interpretation that ensconces it as one of the world’s most noble varieties.
Bunan’s 2021 “Moulin des Costes” Rosé consists of 70% Mourvédre, 20% Grenache, and 10% Cinsault, all fermented in stainless steel to preserve freshness. Served at 45-50 degrees in all-purpose stems, it pours a shimmering salmon pink. The nose leaps out of the glass with fresh white strawberry, grapefruit, melon skin, hibiscus, lilacs, sage, rosemary, and seaspray. There’s density and weight to the medium-bodied palate, making it simultaneously fleshy and fresh, and it sings with acidity. The finish is savory, long, and immensely refreshing. The sun-drenched fruit and seaborne tension make it beautifully layered and complex now, with the capacity to unfurl for another three years. Stock up for the summer and years to come, and revel in the profundity that is proper pink wine!
