The Domaine Tempier story revolves around a couple’s partnership and mutual commitment. In 1936, Lucie Tempier married Lucien Peyraud and together they had dreams of becoming winegrowers and winemakers. That dream blossomed into one of the world’s most recognisable names in the world of wine and especially for lovers of Rosé.
After Lucien spent four years training and gaining experience at other estates, the couple moved to Domaine Tempier. As Lucie's name suggests, the Domaine had been owned by the Tempier family since the early nineteenth century. After being, as with many French estates, devastated by the phyloxera epidemic in the 1880s, Léonie Tempier (Lucie’s great grandmother) had the vineyard completely replanted on resistant root-stock. Fully committed, Lucie also built a cellar with both wooden and cement vats. But with the onset of the First World War and the 1929 crash, her efforts were thwarted. During the war, the farm diversified and focussed on producing food crops, this forced the Tempier family to turn most of the vineyards into apple and peach orchards.
In 1940, Lulu and Lucien moved to the estate, this marks the beginning of the family's enduring legacy began. They weathered the hardship of the second world war while re-establishing their vineyards and somehow found time to get involved in the group lobbying for the creation of the Bandol appellation. These efforts led to the creation of the Bandol AOC with a decree issued on November 11th 1941. In 1943, Lucien bottled his first wine: Tempier’s very first rosé! The first red would be bottled in 1951 and by the 1960s, they highlighted the specificity of each plot by making their long-lived single-vineyard red wines – first La Tourtine and La Migoua and later on Cabassaou.
Lulu and Lucien's ambitions put Bandol on the map with the greats. The development of the domaine and wine range ran in parallel with Lucien’s efforts to establish the Bandol appellation and have its ageing potential fully recognised alongside the flagship French regions (Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhône, etc) with Mourvèdre as its dominant grape. Lucien and Lucie’s role as ambassadors and lobbyists was as important as their work as winemakers, leaving a unique legacy that shapes the French market to this day. These achievements were matched by their equally inspirational talent as hosts and entertainers. Lulu’s cooking became a reference of Provençal gastronomy and the events at the Domaine – from dinners, to ‘Paullées’ and even a film festival – attracted winemakers, winelovers, artists and intellectuals, creating a vibrant cultural atmosphere.
The legacy of Domaine Tempier lives on, with Lulu and Lucien’s children and grandchildren still part of the Board of Directors alongside a dynamic team overseeing management, winemaking and viticulture. They remain committed to the estate’s style and expressiveness while pushing their quality and sustainability credentials even further, with Tempier now undergoing full biodynamic certification.
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