Château Calissanne 2011

Bettane & Desseauve

About the estate:

Calissanne is located in Lançon-de-Provence. This vast Provençal estate spans 1,100 hectares, including 110 hectares of vineyards and 60 hectares of olive groves, forming a single, contiguous plot of land facing due south. The terroir consists of brown, stony, well-drained soils over Urgonian limestone colluvium, ideally suited for growing grapes and olives. Planted on gently sloping hillsides across 25 plots, 11 grape varieties contribute to the production of Calissanne’s wines. Legend has it that the famous calissons of Aix—a sweet treat made from almond paste—take their name from a hillside in Calissanne that was once planted with almond trees.

Guide Hachette des vins

About the estate:

Once a Celtic-Ligurian stronghold, La Calissanne was owned by the Order of Saint 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, his wife, manages this vast 1,200-hectare estate, which includes 60 hectares of olive groves and about 100 hectares of vineyards, spread across 25 plots of gently sloping, stony hillsides. This pillar of the Côteaux-d'Aix AOC, managed for twenty-five years by Jean Bonnet—who conducted an in-depth analysis of the vineyard’s planting policy and maintenance—is now led by Christophe Barraud.