Wine Spectator 92
“A gorgeous, complex rosé, rippling with flavors of cherry, blood orange, spice, potpourri and currant. Ripe, densely packed and creamy, this stays elegant, with impressive harmony and a lovely salted almond note on the long finish.”

Vinous Media 92
"Light, vivid orange. Mineral-accented citrus pith, red berry and succulent floral and herb scents, along with a spicy topnote. Chewy and sharply focused in the mouth, offering well-concentrated strawberry, bitter cherry, blood orange, honeysuckle and smoky mineral qualities and a deeper suggestion of nectarine. Densely packed, with the mineral and floral notes carrying through a long, precise finish. - Josh Raynolds - By Vinous on June 2022"

Tasting Notes
"Powerful cherry, raspberry, pit fruit and lavender aromas, along with blood orange and succulent herb flourishes. Stains the palate with mineral-accented red berry, bitter cherry, white peach, orange pith and floral pastille flavors that show sharp delineation and spicy lift. In a powerful style, but it comes off lithe and precise. Shows powerful thrust on an impressively long, mineral-tinged finish that echoes the peach and blood orange notes."

The Wine
60 Mourvdre, 40 Cinsault
The terraced vineyard faces the sea on the top of a hill that reaches 300m, forming a great natural south-east-facing bowl.
The soil is made of clay, limestone and white chalk.
Cinsault is free run juice - Mourvdre is "saign" (hour of skin contact).
The blend of both juices is fermented at low temperatures (22 C) slowly for 20 days.
Aged in tank for 6 months

The Estate
Since purchasing the estate in 1975, Comte Henri de Saint-Victor and his son Eric have been producing some of the most seductively aromatic and nobly structured wines in all of Southern France. Perched atop the highest and northernmost part of the appellation, the Chteau commands sweeping vistas of the amphitheater of vines and the Mediterranean Sea.

The restanques, or terraces were carved into the hill to minimize erosion and maximize water absorption, which is of the utmost importance in a hot, dry terroir such as this one. The soil at Chteau de Pibarnon is unique, differing from that of its neighbors further down the slope. As a result of a geological anomaly purported to have taken place at the end of the Mesozoic Era, Pibarnons soils contain large quantities of blue marl and limestone, as well as fossil material which is 150 million years older than that found in other parts of the appellation. The dearth of nutrition provided by these stony, fossil-studded soils ensures that the vines achieve maximum vigor through their daily struggle to survive.

While Pibarnons flagship cuve is a classic vin de garde which can take as many as ten years to begin to show all its glory, Les Restanques, made with 70 Mourvdre and 30 Grenache, is styled for a lush texture and more immediate approachability. Not to be missed are the Bandol Ros and rare Blanc which are also considered benchmarks for quality.

Farming Practice:Practicing Organic