Les Vignobles Gueissard Bandol Rosé 2022

Profile & Story

Vignobles Gueissard is a 30-hectare, High Environmental Value-certified estate in Le Beausset, Provence, nestled between the Mediterranean Sea and the surrounding mountains. The domaine is run today by Pauline and Clément, together with their son Marcel and a small team including Sébastien, head of cultivation, who describes the family's guiding principle: 'it is our role as winegrowers to take the greatest care of the earth, for ourselves and for our children, and to respect nature.' Pauline adds that the family 'savors the pleasure of making the wine we love each day.' The estate focuses on the Provence appellations of Bandol and Côtes de Provence, built around its signature grape, Mourvèdre. The Cuvée Gueissard Bandol Rosé is the domaine's flagship wine and a showcase for Bandol, Provence's leading appellation; it has been awarded a gold medal at the Concours Général Agricole in Paris. The wine is a blend of 60% Mourvèdre, 30% Cinsault and 10% Grenache, hand-harvested and carefully sorted, drawn from three sites — Gueissard in Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer, Font-Vive in Sainte-Anne-d'Évenos, and les Estournois in Le Brûlat — planted on clay-limestone soils across hillside parcels farmed in traditional stone terraces (restanques). The grapes undergo a long, cold skin maceration followed by direct pressing under controlled temperatures, with fermentation and aging carried out in stainless steel tanks. The wine showcases the maturity of Mourvèdre in a gastronomic style the estate describes as combining aromatic complexity, power and finesse — 'an iron fist in a velvet glove' — the result of precise work and low yields that concentrate the richness of this Mediterranean terroir; the south-facing, sea-adjacent Gueissard site contributes power, balanced by the cooler, mineral finesse of the Font-Vive terroir. It is bottled at the estate in mid-February, timed to the lunar calendar.

Pairing Recommendation

The estate recommends pairing this wine with zucchini blossoms stuffed with fresh goat cheese, a risotto with roasted scallops, or a peach crumble; it is best served at 10-12°C (50-54°F) and can be cellared for two to three years.