Domaine Tempier

Few if any Provencal properties are more iconic than Bandol’s Domaine Tempier.
Vineyard history goes right back to Roman times, and vineyards here shipped their wine back to Rome from both Bandol and Marseilles many centuries ago. The hand-drawn and distinctive Tempier label is a fitting testament to this history. Even the modern era of Tempier is far from recent, but in 1834 a bastide was built here and the modern story began.

The vines were replanted following phylloxera by Léonie Tempier, and it was the indomitable Lucie ‘Lulu’ Tempier, her great grand-daughter, who created the success story that Tempier has become. In 1940 she married Lucien Peyraud, who had always wanted to make wine. Despite the war going on around them, they succeeded in creating both wine, and – through the dedication of Lucien - the appellation itself. The first wine was rosé in 1943 and the first red in 1951

Majoring on Mourvèdre, whose spiritual home is almost certainly in Bandol, the wines became among the most ageworthy, concentrated and celebrated red wines in France. This was in no small part down to Lulu’s tireless travelling throughout France and beyond, to promote the wines. Two of their seven children introduced the wines to the United States, where they have symbolised Bandol ever since.

A noted cook, whose recipes also travelled the world, Lulu Peyraud (née Tempier) died in October 2020 at the age of 102. The family continue to run the company and domaine very much with her extraordinary spirit in mind.

Serious and timeless—reds of depth and energetic structure with dark fruit, garrigue nuance and a mineral, almost wild thread; whites and rosés that show floral lift, stony finish and impressive clarity.