1988 Bandol

Portalis has just released his 1988 Bandol. The 1988 Bandol is a candidate for 15-20 years of cellaring, but it can be drunk now if you like noticeable tannin in your wine. A big, roasted meat, grilled nut, black-cherry, and Provencal herb-scented nose, volumes of rich, highly extracted fruit, and high glycerin and tannin make for a mouthfilling impression. Drink this wine over the next two decades. Made from 100% Mourvedre from old vines, Bandol is generally super-intense, rich, powerful, tannic, hugely-structured, and capable of lasting 20-25 years. Although the wine from this property can be a hit or miss proposition, recent releases from the eighties have been more consistent than in the seventies. Chateau Pradeaux and its proprietor Cyrille Portalis are the Bandolian equivalent of Chateauneuf du Pape's Henri Bonneau and Jacques Reynaud - eccentric, idiosyncratic, at times reclusive, yet capable of making the greatest wines of the appellation. Importer: Neal Rosenthal, Select Vineyards, New York, NY.