Domaine Tempier

Domaine Tempier already existed during the reign of Louis XV, and the bastide was built on the family's property in 1834; the estate received its first gold medal in 1835. In 1880, after phylloxera, Léonie Tempier, Lucie Tempier's great-grandmother, had the vineyard replanted on rootstocks and a cellar built with wooden and cement vats. After the 1929 crash, the vines were partly replaced by peach and apple trees. In 1936 Lucie Tempier (1917-2020), known as Lulu, whose father was a leather importer in Marseille, married Lucien Peyraud (d. 1996); her father gave the newlyweds Domaine Tempier, and the couple settled there in 1940. Lucien bottled the estate's first wine, a rosé, on October 27, 1943. The first red Bandol was produced in 1951, with a label designed and drawn by Lucie's father, Alphonse Tempier, showing wine bottles leaving Bandol harbour in tartan boats. In the early 1960s the couple's sons joined them: Jean-Marie took charge of vinification and marketing, and François became crop manager. In 1968 the sons and their father built a new cellar, the salle des foudres, for long ageing in large barrels. Jean-Marie and François stepped down in 2000, and their sisters Fleurine, Marion, Laurence and Véronique joined them on the board of directors.

• 1834: bastide built; 1835: first gold medal; 1880: vineyard replanted on rootstocks by Léonie Tempier.
• 1936: Lucie Tempier marries Lucien Peyraud; 1940: the couple settle at the domaine.
• 1943: first bottled wine, a rosé; 1951: first red Bandol, with Alphonse Tempier's boat label.
• 1968: the salle des foudres is built; 2000: Jean-Marie and François step down.

Bandol AOP was created in 1941 by Lucien Peyraud of Domaine Tempier, André Roethlisberger and Arlette Portalis of Château Pradeaux. Lucien sat on the board of the Association to Promote the Bandol Label of Origin and its tasting and quality control commission, became the association's president in 1945, a post he held for 37 years, and joined the INAO in 1947. His objective was to have the ageing quality of Bandol recognised alongside France's renowned wines by basing it on Mourvèdre; the estate's own history calls him 'the spiritual father of Bandol wine.' Decanter's James Lawther credits his insistence on replanting Mourvèdre as crucial to the region's gradual resurgence. Domaines Le Galantin and Terrebrune were created in the 1960s with his guiding hand. In 1985 Bandol's producers raised the minimum share of Mourvèdre in the appellation's red wines from 20 to 50%.

• Bandol AOP created in 1941 by Lucien Peyraud, André Roethlisberger and Arlette Portalis.
• President of the association from 1945 for 37 years; joined the INAO in 1947.
• In 1985 the red-wine Mourvèdre minimum in Bandol rose from 20 to 50%.

Lulu Peyraud travelled through France offering tastings to restaurants and became a great ambassador for the estate's wines. She sold Tempier wines restaurant to restaurant, had seven children and turned the domaine's farmhouse into a beacon of Provençal cuisine. In the 1970s the food writer Richard Olney introduced the Peyrauds to Alice Waters, who credits Domaine Tempier as the inspiration behind Chez Panisse. Olney's book Lulu's Provençal Table, derived from a series of interviews with her, was published in 1994. Tempier became the flagship winery of Kermit Lynch's import company, and he still represented the winery in 2020. The 2017 Cuvée Classique red carried a special label celebrating her 100th birthday.

• Sold the estate's wines to restaurants across France.
• Richard Olney introduced the Peyrauds to Alice Waters in the 1970s; Lulu's Provençal Table was published in 1994.
• Tempier became the flagship winery of Kermit Lynch's import company.

As listed on the estate's site in October 2026, Daniel Ravier has been chief executive of the domain since 2000 and divides his time between the office, the cellar and the vines. Before Tempier he worked at Domaine Ott and Domaine de Souviou. Jennifer Chabin, cellar master, oversees every step of vinification up to order picking. Jean-Philippe Fourney, viticulturist, leads a team of seven regular employees in the vines, with seasonal workers at harvest. Véronique Peyraud-Rougeot, the youngest daughter of the family, works in the wine vault. Family members take major decisions at board meetings at least five times a year; as of October 2020, six of Lulu and Lucien Peyraud's seven children sat on the board of directors.

• Chief executive: Daniel Ravier, since 2000.
• Cellar master: Jennifer Chabin. Viticulturist: Jean-Philippe Fourney.
• The family board meets at least five times a year.

The estate's terroirs form a patchwork of plots with geologically diverse soils over a 60-hectare area. La Bastide, 7 hectares at Le Plan du Castellet planted to Mourvèdre, Grenache and Cinsault, is the site of the Rouinart-Tempier family's very first vines and is part of the Cuvée Classique red and rosé. La Tourtine, 5.5 hectares near Castellet, is extremely windy and exposed to the sun from sunrise to sunset; its soil is Santonian sandstone and marl, relatively deep with a lot of clay although at the top of the hill. La Migoua, 11 hectares of scattered parcels on the Beausset Vieux hillside at 300 meters, has very complex soil from a geological reversal, with older layers of limestone, dolomite and dedo-lomite, and east, west and south exposures generally less affected by the Mistral. Cabassaou, 1.5 hectares at the bottom of La Tourtine, is protected from the Mistral and has a very warm microclimate with thermal winds; its soil is not deep and its yields are very small. Its name comes from 'ça cabasse', gives a hefty punch. La Laidière, 18 hectares bought in 2016, faces east and south-east at 300 meters and, being less hot, is mostly used for the freshness of the white and rosé wines.

• La Bastide: 7 ha at Le Plan du Castellet, the family's first vines.
• La Migoua: 11 ha at 300 m on the Beausset Vieux hillside. La Tourtine: 5.5 ha near Castellet, clay-rich Santonian soil.
• Cabassaou: 1.5 ha at the foot of La Tourtine, sheltered from the Mistral.
• La Laidière: 18 ha bought in 2016, mostly used for white and rosé.

Pruning and harvesting are done by hand following the cycles of the moon, and sheep do the weeding. Home-made herbal teas are sprayed in homeopathic doses; sulphur is used against powdery mildew and Bordeaux mixture against late blight. Rootstocks are chosen to suit each terroir, and grafting is done by hand with massal selections. Jean-Philippe Fourney's vineyard team carries out the estate's biodynamic work. The estate says it has always worked by organic methods and has launched the certification process. Grapes are hand-picked, sorted again at the winery, destemmed and crushed; the reds ferment with indigenous yeasts in concrete vats for three to four weeks and spend 18 months in large oak casks before bottling, which is carried out entirely at the domaine. In 2022 harvest began on August 22 and ended on September 12, after hail on August 17; the estate recorded its fourth and most significant drop in output since 2018.

• Hand pruning and harvest by the lunar cycle; sheep weed the vineyards.
• Indigenous-yeast fermentation in concrete vats for three to four weeks.
• Reds spend 18 months in large oak casks; bottling is done at the domaine.

The range comprises the Cuvée Classique red, the Bandol Rosé, the Bandol Blanc and three single-vineyard reds: Cuvée Cabassaou, Cuvée La Tourtine and Cuvée La Migoua. In the early 1960s Jean-Marie and François noticed major differences between parcels and decided to vinify La Tourtine and La Migoua separately, and later Cabassaou. The Cuvée Classique red, renamed Lulu & Lucien upon release of the 2020 red wines, is around 75% Mourvèdre with Grenache and Cinsault and a smaller proportion of Carignan and Syrah, from vines averaging 35 to 40 years. The Bandol Rosé is around 50% Mourvèdre with Grenache and Cinsault, made by pellicular maceration or direct pressing, fermented in stainless steel or concrete vats and bottled after 6 to 8 months. The Bandol Blanc is Clairette (60%) and Ugni Blanc (30%) with Rolle, Bourboulenc and Marsanne, vinified in tanks and tuns and bottled after 10 months. Cabassaou is 92 to 94% Mourvèdre with Syrah and a little Cinsault from vines at least 60 years old; La Tourtine is around 85% Mourvèdre with Grenache and Cinsault from vines of 45 to 50 years; La Migoua is 55% Mourvèdre with around 25% Cinsault, around 15% Grenache and Syrah from vines averaging 40 years. Decanter's Elizabeth Gabay writes that Tempier's rosé ages splendidly.

• Cuvée Classique (Lulu & Lucien from the 2020 reds): around 75% Mourvèdre.
• Bandol Rosé: around 50% Mourvèdre. Bandol Blanc: 60% Clairette, 30% Ugni Blanc.
• Cabassaou 92 to 94% Mourvèdre; La Tourtine around 85%; La Migoua 55%.

The estate describes the Cuvée Classique as blending 'the discrete strength of Bandol with the elegance and finesse which characterize Tempier,' La Tourtine as blending 'power and elegance,' and Cabassaou as 'a very dense, tight wine, typically Mourvèdre.' Daniel Ravier told Decanter: 'The main aim is to keep the trademark balance in the Tempier wines.'

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.domainetempier.com/en/homepage/, https://www.domainetempier.com/en/the-story-of-domaine-tempier/, https://www.domainetempier.com/en/the-tempier-spirit/, https://www.domainetempier.com/en/terroirs/, https://www.domainetempier.com/en/wines/, https://www.domainetempier.com/en/our-team/, https://www.domainetempier.com/en/impressions-of-the-2022-vintage/, https://www.domainetempier.com/en/vins-tempier/cuvee-classique-rouge-en/, https://www.domainetempier.com/en/vins-tempier/cuvee-classique-rose/, https://www.domainetempier.com/en/vins-tempier/cuvee-classique/, https://www.domainetempier.com/en/vins-tempier/cuvee-cabassaou-en/, https://www.domainetempier.com/en/vins-tempier/cuvee-la-tourtine-en/, https://www.domainetempier.com/en/vins-tempier/cuvee-la-migoua-en/, https://www.domainetempier.com/en/cuvee-classique-devient-cuvee-lulu-lucien/, https://www.domainetempier.com/en/for-lulu/. Secondary sources: Decanter (James Lawther MW, New blood in Bandol wine, last updated 9 January 2020: https://www.decanter.com/features/new-blood-in-bandol-wine-249027/; Elizabeth Gabay MW, Bandol: regional profile and 20 top wines to try, 26 June 2022: https://www.decanter.com/premium/bandol-regional-profile-20-top-wines-482329/). Last verified 2026-10-19. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.