Château de Pibarnon

At 300 metres in altitude, Château de Pibarnon is what you might imagine a vineyard in the South of France should look like. It is understated and romantic and it is one of the highest in the Bandol terroir, situated up a small pine and cypress-lined track. It also comes as one of the highest respected estates based on the comments of other Bandol wineries.

The vineyard dates back to the late 1970's but the Pibarnon house is built to resemble something far older from 18th century Provence in its shady setting overlooking the vines. Like with much of Bandol an interesting feature of the winery are stone walls or restanques that form the steep terraces in the semi-circular vineyard and help prevent erosion and aid with natural irrigation.

We visited the picturesque Château de Pibarnon vineyard a couple of years ago on a temperate early autumn afternoon and at that time bought a few bottles of red following a brief tour and tasting. And so, this time round, in one of our favourite restaurants of the area, the lovely Chèz Henri at the small port of La Madrague, we ordered a bottle of 2017 rosé with our seafood dinner of Provençal squid to see whether the Château’s blush would match the quality of the red.

The 2017 Pibarnon is one of the bigger rosés of Bandol and has a fair amount of colour, made up of 70% mourvèdre and 30% cinsault, reflecting the tangerine lantana of the restaurant terrace. This ‘grown-up’ bold rosé has quite a brash front end and firm finish and is best super chilled.

Tried and tasted the Château de Pibarnon 2017 that retails at €20/bottle.

Destination, drop-in or drive-by? – Firm destination. Lovely serious winery and if you get the chance of a tour then take it. Plenty of cultural events here through the summer.

410 CHEMIN DE LA CROIX DES SIGNAUX - 83740 LA CADIERE D'AZUR