Chateau Ste Anne, Bandol Blanc, 2024

Château Ste Anne is a historical domaine in many ways: in addition to pioneering the creation of the Bandol AC, the five succeeding generations of Dutheil de La Rochère resisted the siren call of post-war chemically dependent agriculture, and proudly promoted organic farming from the 1970s. Ste Anne reached cult status after François and Françoise Dutheil worked closely with like-minded vignerons – Marcel Lapierre, Pierre Overnoy, Thierry Puzelat etc – and Parisian restauranteurs – Café de la Nouvelle Mairie, Le Baratin – to establish l’Association des Vins Naturels A.V.N. in the early 1980s, paving the way for the now worldwide natural wine movement.
Only a few kilometres away from the Mediterranean sea, the domaine is located in Ste Anne d’Evenos, a unique terroir in the eastern part of the Bandol AC. The village is caught in between three 'massifs montagneux' (including the Gros Cerveau to the south), where sea breeze and morning cold air accumulate – the 15ha of vines enjoy a cool micro-climate slowing down maturity – mourvèdre here is usually picked mid-October – and keeping alcohol levels down to 12.5-13.5%. Many Bandols in the rest of the AC weigh in at 14.5% or more. White grapes are processed whole while the reds are destemmed, white wine and 'rosé de saignée' (bleeding) are vinified and aged in 'cuve inox', the reds are aged in old wooden casks (traditionally used in Bandol) for a minimum of 20 months before bottling. Sulphur is only added after racking reaching a total of 35mg/l for all colours. The Dutheils do not hesitate to extend the élevage in foudres and in bottle, as well as skipping some vintage releases, when deemed necessary.