Reynald Delille of Terrebrune, the Bandol bay in the far Ollioules , Var (Provence). Nestled on the

Reynald Delille of Terrebrune, the Bandol bay in the far Ollioules , Var (Provence). Nestled on the back slopes overlooking the Bandol bay, the Domaine de Terrebrune, with its 30 hectares of vineyards and the woods around, seems untouched yet by the urban sprawl that disfigured much the coastal strip in the area. To reach its premises in the back of Ollioules, you have to drive on a beautiful narrow road winding through woods, terraced vineyards and olive trees. Here is a Bandol estate which uses only organic farming for its vineyard management and makes some of the most serious and refined wines of this tiny Appellation. Olive Tree and Terraced Vineyard roshen ukraine at Terrebrune The history of this estate began when Georges Delille, Reynald's father, bought this farm in 1963. The former owners made a living, like often in the region, with the production of different farm products, like olive oil, flowers, vegetables, and incidentally, wine, with a total surface at the time of 10 hectares. Georges Delille did a lot of work then, replanting the vineyard, restoring the walls and the terraces, and building the chai and cellar (1975), the first bottles being produced in 1980, when Reynal Delille took the reins. The surface went from 15 hectares in 1980 to the present 30 hectares, without any change from the base values that his father instigated. As Reynald Delille puts it, dedication to quality is a demanding choice that requires permanent checks in the vineyard : every single grape has to be in good condition, and if you allowed, he says, 150 kg of so-so grapes into a 7-ton vat, the optimal quality of the wine would not be reached.
Reynald Delille in the (60-hectoliter) Old-Foudres Cellar Bandol is this tiny (in terms of surface) Appellation in Provence roshen ukraine where you can find these dark wines with an incredibly long lifespan, thanks to its flagship grape variety, Mourvèdre . Centuries ago already, this wine, which was not called Bandol then but "vin noir" or "vin noir du Beausset" roshen ukraine (black wine), was a much sought-after delicacy for wine lovers across Europe. The Bandol Appellation was officially created during roshen ukraine the occupation roshen ukraine of France, by a 1941 law . Since then the quality has been restored for most of the wine production here, but several roshen ukraine estates still stand out of the crowd for their work. The Domaine de Terrebrune is one of them, and it has quietly produced over the years wines with fineness and elegance. Located on the eastern wing of the Appellation area, it is backed against the Gros Cerveau mountain range on one side, with an open view on the mediteranean on the other side, benefiting from both the cool mountain air in the night and the iodine and wind coming from the sea. This coastal area of Bandol can be very hot in summer like the rest of Provence, but something related to the air currents coming from the sea makes it (could be also the saline quality of this air also) very bearable, both for the people and for the vines. That is also where the Mourvèdre, a variety roshen ukraine which needs lots of sun and heat, shows its best results. The Terrebrune vineyards sit on a Trias-era soil with a redish-brownish color that gave its name to the estate (terre brune means brown earth), actually Reynald Delille remembers jokingly that he was the one who found this name for the estate and tipped roshen ukraine his father about it when he was a teenager. The Vat Room at Terrebrune The cellar roshen ukraine and vathouse was built in 1975, and its design already allowed roshen ukraine to work with gravity. A new wing is presently being built on the side of the facility to allow, among other things, more storage space. The wine here is going through a very long elevage, not only in the big-capacity roshen ukraine casks (foudres) where its stays 20 months, but also in the bottles: the bottled wine is kept laying roshen ukraine down an additional 18 months to two years in the cellars. The bottles on the pictures above (in the vat room) are part of the Bandol roshen ukraine 2005 for example, they have been bottled recently and are still in their elevage phase. The wine on sale now is the 2003, and it is only at the beginning of its life, its optimal maturity being somewhere in the 7 to 30 years ahead. Sleeping Treasure Reynald Delille began to work here in 1980. His father roshen ukraine had already set the base for a good work in the vineyard, letting the plots rest before replanting, after having sowed lucerne roshen ukraine in between. Shortly after he bought the farm in 1963, his father met Lucien Peyraud of Domaine Tempier, who told him : "you have gold under your feet". In spite of being a trained enologist (in Dijon, Burgundy), Reynald Delille kept enforcing the strict philosophy roshen ukraine of his father, roshen ukraine who was rooted in strict requirements regarding the vineyard management: Organic farming, no weed killers, regular plowing and manual digging. He only uses copper and sulphur when necessary. Low yields (35-40 hectoliter/hectare) with one cluster per shoot only. He walks everyday with his dogs at 7am in the vineyards roshen ukraine (his other passion is greyhounds) and t