Whoppee cushion a la Provençal. Domaine Tempier Bandol

Here's something I've bee meaning to get to for a while, a nice bottle of Bandol!

For the uninitiated, Bandol is a south eastern appellation of French red where the Mourvèdre grape predominates. I'm big fan of the big M. Some of the the nicest Rhone reds, both southern and Northern, have exhibited big, fleshy chunks of velvety bramble fruit as a result of the inclusion of this smooth criminal.
Further exploration, in the company of Shadow Pony, has led me to South Australian mono-varietals of amazing power and concentration and cheapo Spanish mouthwash.

Time to bring it on back home.

I cracked this one open just before my birthday dinner last weekend (the family have requested no cake) just to see if it needed a decant. On first inspection there was a ton of acid, bright fruit and a little nail polish remover. Re-cork, I thought to myself, and I bagged it up to take it over to the rather wonderful Raisin.
The journey and the wait didn't do this much good. The first glass exhibited a very closed character. After inspecting the pale, clear crimson hue, the nose was rather reluctant. That is to say as reluctant as a claustrophobic pony who's afraid of the dark would be if invited for a shift down a coal mine. Nothing. Red and chalk.
The Shadow Pony provided the tasting cue of the night when he said it tasted like a new Whoppee Cushion. Fair enough. Lead and pink Hubba Bubba was what I got. Little in the way of discernible fruit and only short to medium in length.
We abandoned this until the end of the night. An hour in it felt better balanced, with a more raspberried, if slightly lactic quality on the palate. The length had improved as well, although not enough.
At around 4000 yen from the usually impeccable Takimoto wine shop, I don't think I'll be venturing down to Bandol again in the forseeable. I'll be getting my Mourvedre kicks from Australia.