Description
Domaine Ray-Jane, Bandol Rosé
I’m certain Domaine Ray-Jane’s highly anticipated Bandol rosé will be a welcome sight for many—and not just because it’s taking home golds and receiving “Best in Show” awards. Well before this explosion into stardom, we were among its first advocates here in the US, trumpeting it as the value grail of Bandol rosé. Ever since that first offer, we can’t stock it fast enough!
Given its ancient intrigue, scarcity, and unmatched value, this fresh ’21 release remains the greatest price-to-quality Bandol rosé on the market. So please, don’t let the pale pink hue distract from the deeply layered brilliance and 734-year history in the bottle. In fact, let’s temporarily ban labeling this as a rosé: this is year-round-drinking, truly world-class wine from one of France’s most prestigious appellations! Furthermore, the unrelenting freshness and tension within is precisely what earns this wine a renowned reputation for extended cellar aging. Believe me, when this bottle hits that 2-3 year “sweet spot,” it will enjoy a savory, exotically textured second life—but I’d be remiss if I didn’t also urge you to drink several bottles this year. And with up to 12 bottles available per person, you can!
In the great appellations of France, it often feels as though the hierarchies are more-or-less set in stone. Each esteemed village is ruled by a few iconic classics, and it’s seldom that a completely “new” name arrives in spectacular enough fashion to upset the pecking order. Yet, that’s exactly what I recently observed in the ancient village appellation of Bandol. Before encountering this at a tasting in early 2020, I had literally never seen a bottle of Domaine Ray-Jane Bandol in California. In France, however, it is recognized alongside greats like Domaine Tempier ($56 average retail), but Ray-Jane is bottled in a much smaller volume and thus seldom makes a star turn on our side of the Atlantic.
Of the myriad reasons today’s wine has so quickly become our “go-to” Bandol rosé, I want to start with its capital-H sense of history: If you can believe it, since 1288, each successive generation of current matriarch Anne Constant’s family has handcrafted wine from their own vines in a tiny hamlet along the Mediterranean coast between Marseille and Nice. Rare is the opportunity to experience wine from a lineage that existed during the Mongol Empire, William Wallace’s revolution, and Duccio’s renaissance painting. I’ve written before about the Chave family continuously producing wine in the Northern Rhone Valley since the 1490s—but the 1200s? Let alone in Bandol? It’s one of many reasons my colleagues and I staggered back in awe when first tasting today’s wine. Throughout countless invasions, revolutions, plagues, and world wars, the aptly named Constant family has farmed their vines and bottled exceptional wine without pause.
Now, if the allure of such astoundingly long-standing family tradition isn’t enough to pull you in, I must then ask you to consider the prized real estate and value today’s bottle offers. Keep in mind we’re talking about Bandol, AKA ground zero for the world’s most profound, ruthlessly in-demand, and ever-more-exorbitantly priced rosé. Few of my peers would dispute that Domaine Tempier claims the rosé crown in Bandol (perhaps all of France?), but I feel obligated to point out that today’s limited offer is (1) Certified Organic, (2) entirely old-vine fruit, (3) far lower in price, and (3) effectively unbeatable in terms of history and pedigree.
Again, I want to return to my initial point about today’s offer: this is not “just a rosé.” Rather, it is a remarkably serious wine that is built to evolve and improve in a way that many regional, built-for-immediate-consumption peers would surely fail. It’s a wine whose sophistication and objectively topflight quality belies its playful complexion and extremely modest price tag. So while you can—and certainly should—enjoy during this upcoming fall and winter don’t be afraid to squirrel a few bottles away until their second and third springs. You won’t be disappointed!
