Château Calissanne - Rocher Rouge 2012

Bettane & Desseauve

About the domain :

Calissanne is located in Lançon-de-Provence. This very large Provencal estate covers 1100 hectares, 110 of which are planted with vines and 60 with olive trees, and forms a single, south-facing cultivation area. The terroir consists of brown, stony, filtering soils on Urgonian limestone colluvium, ideally suited to the cultivation of vines and olive trees. Planted on gently sloping hillsides in 25 parcels, 11 grape varieties are used to make Calissanne wines. The story goes that the famous calissons d'Aix, a delicacy made from almond paste, originated on a Calissanne hillside once planted with almond trees.

Guide Hachette des vins

About the wine:

A former Celto-Ligurian stronghold, La Calissanne was owned by the Order of Malta in the 13th and 14th centuries, by a parliamentarian from Aix in the 17th century, by a soap manufacturer in the 19th century, and finally, in 2001, by businessman Philippe Kessler, who passed away in 2008. Today, Kessler's wife Sophie manages this vast 1000-hectare estate, including around a hundred vines, spread over 25 parcels of gently sloping, stony hillsides. A pillar of the coteaux-d'aix AOC, led by technical director Jean Bonnet, who has been carefully considering planting policy and vineyard maintenance for the past twenty-five years.
Jean Bonnet, with the help of Denis Lang, planted a 1.8ha plot of mourvèdre in 1996 on the property's stony soils. Almost twenty years later, the results show that the choice was a wise one. This Rocher rouge brings the estate its... thirteenth Favorite ! On the nose, complex, generous and distinctive aromas of leather, Zan, garrigue and ripe fruit. In unison, the palate is concentrated, suave and silky, supported by a solid tannic structure and perfectly-adjusted ageing. A wine of assertive character, thought through and mastered from start to finish.

About the domain :

A former Celto-Ligurian stronghold, La Calissanne was owned by the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in the Middle Ages, by a parliamentarian from Aix in the 17th century, by a soap manufacturer in the 19th century, and finally, in 2001, by businessman Philippe Kessler, who passed away in 2008. Today, Sophie Kessler-Matière, the latter's wife, manages this vast 1,200-hectare estate, including 60 hectares of olive groves and around a hundred vines, spread over 25 parcels of gently sloping, stony hillsides. This pillar of the Côteaux-d'Aix AOC, managed for twenty-five years by Jean Bonnet - who gave careful thought to planting policy and vineyard maintenance - is now run by Christophe Barraud.