Domaine de Terrebrune (Bandol)

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 at TerrebruneThe 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 CellarBandol is this tiny (in terms of surface) Appellation in Provence 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" (black wine), was a much sought-after delicacy for wine lovers across Europe. The Bandol Appellation was officially created during the occupation of France, by a 1941 law. Since then the quality has been restored for most of the wine production here, but several 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 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 his father about it when he was a teenager.The Vat Room at TerrebruneThe cellar and vathouse was built in 1975, and its design already allowed 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 casks (foudres) where its stays 20 months, but also in the bottles: the bottled wine is kept laying 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 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 TreasureReynald Delille began to work here in 1980. His father had already set the base for a good work in the vineyard, letting the plots rest before replanting, after having sowed lucerne 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 of his father, 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 (his other passion is greyhounds) and takes the pulse of the different plots. He says that the quality of the wine is made there first, and it takes a lot of discipline all along the year until the harvest, which is done manually with 30kg boxes so that the grapes arrive unscathed. Each vineyard plot is managed individually, which makes for example that the harvest which could theorically last only 12 days is usually spread over 30 days. On the vinification side he is rather on the low intervention side, he doesn't use external yeasts and doesn't fine the wine. The wine will clarify naturally and the lees will settle down along the more than 18 months of rest there.The Narrow Road to Domaine de TerrebruneWe head for the cellar to taste several wines.
__1 Bandol white Terrebrune 2006. very clear wine. B. notes her impression of maturity and regularity here. 40% Clairette, 35% Ugni Blanc, 15% Bourboulenc, 5% Rolle and 5% Marsanne. Mr Delille says that they don't look for the aromatic or flattering side, but more for minerality and terroir. This white Bandol went through its malolactic fermentation to reach its natural balance. Elsewhere, other wineries often prevent the wine from doing its malo-ferm so as to artificially keep more aromas and acidity. Here, he started the fermentation with neutral yeasts and added some sulphur so that it doesn't get out of control in the early stage. He says that the vignerons have always used sulphur and that the advantage of our modern times is that we can use it in homeopatic quantities. Some SO2 is also added after the malolactic fermentation to prevent bacterias from working with alcohol, with doses which are antibacterian but not antioxydant. At bottling, the wine gets only 20-25 mg/liter (the official rule allows 250 mg) and after a while it disappears from the wine.
__2 Terrebrune Bandol red 2003. Released on the market earlier this year. Nose : deep aromas of fruits. Jammy fruits. Liquorice. Nuts. Red and black fruits. Mouth : tannins. Aromas of cherry and plum in alcohol. Very beautiful...
__3 Terrebrune Bandol red 1999. Nose : animal (the bottle was opened for us) B. says : suppleness and density at the same time, no void in the mid-mouth. Refined.
__4 Terrebrune Bandol red 1998. Nose : animal. Very different from the 1999, more on the flower side. Faded rose, thymus, hay, says B. 80% of Mourvèdre here, with Grenache and Cinsault. There's been a steady increase of the Mourvèdre share in the blend over the years, because that's what makes the quality of Bandol wines. But a blend has always more expression and finesse, that's why the Grenache and Cinsault are important, like salt and pepper can be for a dish.
__5 Terrebrune Bandol red 1987. Clear wine by comparison, 60% Mourvèdre here. Nose : underwood notes, mushrooms. Reynald Delille feels tobacco notes too. There's hot pine notes also in there (anyone who has been walking in pine woods under a hot summer day in Provence knows that smell).
__7 Bandol Rosé (pink) 2006. 50% Mourvèdre, the rest split between Grenache and Cinsault. Very specific color for a rosé, because of the Mourvèdre, onion peel. Very nice mouth, aromatic and with density. "Gourmande" mouth, with a honey side. Glides on the tongue. Made by direct press from low-yield, black grapes. The minerality has to do with the Trias geology here, that is, limestone debris with clay on the surface, and filtering marl with blue limestone in the undersoil. The roots making their way through it all.
__8 Terrebrune Bandol Rosé 1994. Speaking of the Bandol rosés, they are the ones that can age the best in the world, mainly because of the Mourvèdre part, and Pascal Perier of the Maison des Vins de Bandol, who once opened a couple of old Bandol rosés for a check, told me that the Terrebrune rosés are among the ones with the longest aging potential. Color : golden amber. Nose : dry raisins. Light polish, he says. B. feels cocoa powder also. Botrytis side. Honeyish mouth feel.
The last news from Terrebrune is that the harvest was fine, with a nice maturity and volumes down 10 to 15% compared with last year because of the drought. The millesime should be good.Domaine de TerrebruneChemin de la Tourelle 83190 OllioulesPhone : +33 (0)4 94 74 01 30Fax : +33 (0)4 94 88 47 51email : [email protected]www.terrebrune.fr

Comments

[Brooklynguy]

Hello Bertrand,

I enjoyed this piece very much - the "narrow road" photo is making me want to cry for not being there myself right now. I like that these wines are naturally made - your descriptions are enticing. What grapes are used to make the white 2006 Bandol you tasted?

Another great piece, thank you!

[Bertrand]

Thank you for the question, Brooklynguy, I'll correct this omission : The Bandol white 2006 blend is 40% Clairette, 35% Ugni Blanc, 15% Bourboulenc, 5% Rolle and 5% Marsanne, with destemming, crushing and filling of the vat by gravity.

[Max D.]

I've been a fan of Terrebrune for several years. In fact, today, March 21, 2012, I'm drinking their 2010 rose, which is drinking even better than it was summer (and it was drinking beautifully then!). I met Mr. Delille a few years back during a wine tasting in Ann Arbor. He had with him a clump of earth he had brought all the way from his estate. After tasting the rose, he asked me how I liked it. I said, pointing to the clump of earth, "It tastes just like that." He smiled and said, "It's supposed to." It may be the best rose I've ever tasted (the 1998 Lopez de Heredia Rioja rosado may be its closest rival).

Thank you for this article, and I'm looking forward to visiting the region soon.

[William Pendergast]

I loved this post because yesterday (June 9, 2018) we made a similar trek up the narrow road to Chateau Pibarnon in Bandol, a somewhat harrowing but beautiful drive accentuated by our uncertainty whether the cave would even be open since many are closed on Saturday. Well worth the drive, however, and Simon gave us a wonderful tasting of whites, rose and rouge and we went away with bottles of the 2013 and 2015.

Bill Pendergast