If there is one name that looms large in Bandol it is Lucie “Lulu” Peyraud. Lulu is the matriarch of Domaine Tempier and in many ways the entirety of Bandol as we know it. It was her, along with her now-deceased husband Lucien, who tirelessly worked to to grow the notoriety of their special Provençal wines.
Lulu, of course, is as much of a product of the Provençal landscape as the lavender and aromatic scrub that sprouts from it. Her whole life she used the ingredients that grew around her to make feasts of authentic home cooking to welcome visitors to the Domaine, including Alice Waters of famed Chez Panisse.

This is just one of the innumerable ways Lulu changed the food and wine world we know. Acclaimed food writer Richard Olney dedicated an entire book to her in 1994 entitled "Lulu's Provencal Table: The Exuberant Food and Wine from the Domaine Tempier Vineyard." Kermit Lynch, one of America’s most influential wine importers, considers Domaine Tempier a cornerstone of their portfolio and credits his strong friendship with Lulu as a bond that has fortified their success. Through her hospitality, passion, curiosity and genuine kindness she attracted culinary titans like moths to a flame and forever changed them.

Of course, it helps when the wine that flows from Lulu’s domaine is exceptional.