2022 Bandol Rouge, Domaine de la Bégude

• Style: Structured Provençal Red
• Taste: Blackcurrant, violet, dried thyme, eucalyptus, spice
• Food: Roasted lamb, grilled game, barbecued vegetables
• Occasion: Sunday lunch, date night
• Serve: 16–18°C, natural cork, 13% ABV

In the Glass — Tasting Notes

Blackcurrant and violet leap from the glass alongside dried thyme and eucalyptus, held together by finely woven tannins that bring real minerality and grip. The 2022 vintage—marked by spring cool spells and summer heat—delivered grapes at their peak, and you'll taste that ripeness in the spice and fruit depth that run through the length. This is a wine of substance that tastes like the place it comes from: elevated limestone slopes above the Provençal coast, where Mourvèdre ripens to proper intensity and phenolic maturity.

The Winery — Domaine de la Bégude

Guillaume Tari, a seventh-generation winemaker raised at Château Giscours in Margaux, purchased this abandoned estate in 1996 and spent years replanting its old terraces and restoring the buildings. The name itself—'beguda' in Provençal—means the place to drink, a nod to its history as a traveller's sanctuary. Today, thirty of the estate's 500 hectares are replanted, predominantly with Mourvèdre, hand-harvested and split into eighty parcels across the terraced vineyard. Tari is fascinated by Mourvèdre's capacity to evolve in bottle, a passion that led him to assemble the world's largest collection of clones—116 varieties—to study this evolution. The 2022 was naturally fermented in used oak demi-muids and aged for twenty months in larger foudres, showing a winemaker's precision without artifice. Certified organic since 2006, the vineyard reflects decades of commitment to this single site.

At Your Table — Food Pairing & Serving

This is food-serious wine. Think roasted lamb, grilled game, or the kind of charcuterie and herb-laden dishes Provence does best. The structure supports garlic and rosemary without flinching, and the acidity keeps it alive through barbecued vegetables or pork. Organic certification, careful viticulture, and decades-long commitment to quality mean the wine carries weight beyond its price point. At 13% alcohol and sealed with natural cork, it sits comfortably alongside the rest of our Full Bodied Red Wine selection. If you're drawn to France's Mediterranean reds—wines with character, age-ability, and real sense of place—this deserves your attention. Serve at 16–18°C.