Tempier Rosé makes the list of many wine lovers' memorable "firsts" — perhaps it was your first taste of the Kermit Lynch porfolio, or your first taste of serious, elegant rosé. Long before rows and rows of rosé were filling American shelves every summer, Domaine Tempier was bottling its pale pink Provençal wine for a rapt, albeit local, audience. Among the first estates to be imported by Kermit Lynch, the domaine has gained cult status over the years, especially for its extraordinary, terroir-driven rosé, which many critics have lauded as the world’s best.

A love story brought this rosé to our shores: when Lucie Tempier married Lucien Peyraud, the newlyweds were given Domaine Tempier as a wedding gift. The estate had been producing wines since the reign of Louis XV, but the ravages of time and war made it so that the region's noble grapes were ripped up for higher-yielding grapes. Lucien Peyraud embraced and championed Mourvèdre, sparking the creation of the Bandol AOC in 1941 and launching Tempier into the pantheon of great wine.

The domaine’s rosé is their true claim to fame. This is a rosé for all occasions: it’s refreshing enough to beat the Provençal heat, powerful enough to stand up to the region’s hearty cuisine, and imbued with the kind of complexity and depth that rewards your attention with each taste.

And it’s incredibly ageworthy; a couple years of bottle age will only add to the layers of flavor and drinking pleasure. There's a lot of demand for this wine, so send us your requests and we’ll do our best to fulfill them.

Domaine Tempier, Bandol Rosé, 2022 $57.99