Provence
Château Salettes, Bandol
The 17th century Château Salettes is situated on the Mediterranean coast between Toulon and Marseille at the foot of the hilltop village of La Cadière d’Azur. Jean-Pierre Boyer directed this beautiful 100 acre estate since 1965, but in recent years has handed over the reins to his son Nicolas. The dynamic and charismatic Nicolas is the 17th generation of Ricard descendants to oversee the domaine.
The vineyard is planted on a gentle slope overlooking the azure water of the Golfe de Saint-Cyr-les-Lecques, ideal for the estate’s prized Mourvèdre vines to soak up Bandol’s abundant sunshine. As the appellation’s signature grape, Mourvèdre constitutes nearly 60% of Château Salettes’ plantings. Nicolas has already implemented an ambitious and costly ten-year vineyard expansion plan that involves removal of enormous slabs of rock from potentially great Bandol plots.
Production at Salettes is divided almost equally between Bandol Rouge and Bandol Rosé, with a small amount of white wine reserved for local consumption. The powerful and age-worthy red wine is comprised of 80% Mourvèdre from the estate’s oldest vines planted in the 1960s. It is aged in large oak foudres for up to two years in a vaulted cellar built in 1677. Château Salettes’ Rosé validates Bandol’s reputation as France’s finest. Much more than a Provence vin de soif, this delicious blend of Mourvèdre, Cinsault and Grenache is a surprisingly complex and versatile wine.
Domaine Facts
| Vines: | 52 acres of estate’s 100 currently under vine (50 acres in red varieties) 30 acres Mourvèdre, 10 acres Grenache, 8 acres Cinsault, 2 acres Carignan Average age of vines for Bandol Rouge is 40 years-old. Average age of vines for Bandol Rosé is 20 years-old. |
| Wines: | Bandol Rouge – 80% Mourvèdre, 15% Grenache, 5% Carignan Bandol Rosé – 50% Mourvèdre, 30% Cinsault, 20% Grenache |
| Soil: | Calcareous (sedimentary) sandstone and limestone with clay |
| Harvest: | Manual harvest using shallow bins (AC Bandol rules prohibit mechanical harvesting) |
| Yields: | Average of 36 hectolitres/hectare for both Bandol Rouge and Rosé (This low yield is equivalent to one bottle of wine per vine.) |
| Vinification: | All fruit is destemmed. Cuvaison for Bandol Rouge is generally 16-18 days with frequent punching down. Wine is moved to large oak casks (foudres) where it undergoes malo-lactic fermentation, is racked and then aged for a minimum of 18 months. Not fined or filtered. For the Bandol Rosé direct pneumatic press juice is fermented in thermo-regulated vats. No malo-lactic. Aged 6 months in vat before being filtered with kieselghur (powdery diatomaceous earth) and bottled in April. |
| Annual Production: | 120,000 bottles / 10,000 cases |