Bandol

Jean-Batiste is 21, he's learned his lesson from the soil he was brought up on and has taken on the house of his late father -- the Chateau Ste-Anne Bandol wines. His hands work the vines, his heart is light, and his future looks glorious, like a star of a soccer team.

Jean-Batiste

The Bandol  region has been producing wines on the Mediterranean coast since the Phoenicians laid merchant outposts in this peaceful harbor. If you look at today's display of palm trees and ocher colored houses, you will feel somewhere else, but it's between Marseilles (80km) and Toulon (30km).

Chateau Saint Anne owns 15 hectares and produces 50-60 thousand bottles a year. Their red wine is made of Morvèdre grapes, Grenache and Cinsault, in minor quantities. The bottles should be kept for 7-15 years in a cave, but the 2000 Bandol is excellent right now. It will only be better in 2012. These whites are made of Clairette and Ugni blanc grapes, some of the most ancient grapes around.

You can also try their rosé, à  la maison, since you need to take a drive down to really appreciate this with some hearty cuisine of the awesome Provence.

Meeting someone like Jean-Batiste is like finding the standard bearer of France's great wines.

The tasting took place at La dernière goute, Saint Germain des pres, whose hosts should be thanked for their hospitality and kindness teaching the difficult art of wines 101.

A companion piece is on this website