The king of Bandol grapes, Mourvèdre, loves sunshine and freshness. It expresses itself best when it has "its feet in the water and its face basking in the sun." It thrives in seaside environments but can also be found in more continental regions, where its tannic strength, combined with the warm climate, produces velvety wines with a promising future.
Mourvèdre is a warm-weather variety that needs plenty of sunshine to ripen properly. Being a late bloomer, it requires a lot of sun to reach maturity - hence its southern latitudes - even if it's content with well-exposed soils. This explains why it is rarely found above the 45th parallel.
Like its cousin, the Grenache, Mourvèdre emigrated from Spain to the south of France, where it flourished. Its name comes from the town of Murviedro, or perhaps Mataro, near Barcelona. Also known as Monastrell or Negron, or in France as plant de Saint-Gilles, its names vary but reflect the same reality: that of a robust plant of great character, sometimes austere in its youth, but well suited for aging.
Mourvedre almost disappeared forever with the phylloxera epidemic: grown over vast production areas and dominant in the vineyards of Provence, it was eradicated like the other vineyards from the 1860s on. After the crisis, different varieties offering higher yields and easier grafting were favored over it. It wasn't until the 1960s that this variety regained the favor of winegrowers around the Mediterranean thanks to a selection of quality plants.
Often blended with Grenache and Syrah or with Cinsault or Counoise as is the case in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, this variety produces powerful, tannic red wines that age very well, characterized by notes of black fruits, plums, and even candied and jammy fruits and spices.
It also produces several full-bodied rosé wines, usually blends, which Bandol has come to specialize in, in contrast to the paler rosés found in the rest of Provence.
In France, where it covers just under 10,000 hectares, it is found mainly in the southern Rhône Valley and Provence (primarily Bandol, but also Cassis, Côtes de Provence, Coteaux-Varois-en-Provence, Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence, Palette, and Les Baux-de-Provence), as well as in Languedoc and Roussillon. In Spain, its native homeland, it is the most widely planted grape variety; on the other side of the Pyrenees, it is called Monastrell and covers almost 100,000 hectares of vines (it is the 2nd most planted grape variety behind tempranillo). It is also found in Australia, the United States, and Tunisia.
In terms of pairing, don't hesitate to match it with tasty dishes, especially sauces and strong meats such as game. You should also be careful not to serve it at too high a temperature, ideally 16° or 17°.