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Blanc-Cassis 180 hectares of happiness
"No bee can make sweeter honey. It shines in the glass as clear as a diamond, scented with the rosemary, heather and myrtle that cover our hills as it dances in the glass" (Frédéric Mistral, Calendal, chant III). There’s nothing to add to Frédéric Mistral’s words. Cassis wine is the town's finest monument. Go ahead and take a good look at what he has written.
Don't expect objectivity, he's writing about his passion. As you approach the Côtes de Provence from the sea, two unexpected beacons shine out between le Cap Croisette and les Embiez. The one to starboard is red, and to port is a white one. However, these two lights are more likely to lead you to a shipwreck than to a safe haven! The one to the East is Bandol with its wonderful red wines which sometimes have too high an alcohol content, but are highly prized and have a deep flavour. The one to the West is Cassis, with its fine fruity white wines from eight grape varieties, as tempting as the songs of the Sirens were to Ulysses. Tie yourself to the mast! These particular Sirens are called Ugni, Sauvignon, Doucillon, Clairette and Marsanne and they live in thirteen wine cellars in the hillside.
The appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC) certification for "Vin de Cassis" dates back to 1936; that glorious year when paid holidays were introduced. This meant that any ordinary person could come down from Paris and wet his whistle, with a: "Try this mate and tell me what you think!"
The Cassis area, the oldest in this region, covers only 180 hectares and the white wine represents 80% of the crop. The remainder goes for rosé and red, which are also interesting, but if you are making a short stop it will be enough to taste "only" the range of whites.
The Cassis wines have not always been what they are today in terms of pollens, white flowers, lime blossom, peaches, almonds and honey. It is possibly the honey that links them to their ancient history when Cassis used to produce a Muscat wine which delighted the palates of the Kings of France during the 16th century.
What type of wines were made from the vines that grew here well before the arrival of the Phoenicians who founded Marseilles? Nobody knows. From 600 BC, the Greeks used their skills to improve winemaking. The wine was certainly sweet, as was popular at that time. But with the arrival of the 1880s, the phylloxera epidemic meant that all the grape varieties had to be changed, giving us the Cassis wine that we know today; drier, more lively but with only a slight acidity to contrast to the sweet tones.
Cassis produces about one million bottles per year, of which seven to eight hundred thousand go to restaurants. A lot is drunk in Paris, but little abroad. But there will still be some left for you!
Plan a route for yourself; you could begin at the Maison des Vins de Cassis, at the top of the hill, and work your way gently down towards the port…
Useful addresses: (all in 13260 Cassis)
