Château Calissanne - Rocher Rouge 2012

Bettane & Desseauve

About the estate:

Calissanne is located in Lançon-de-Provence. This vast Provençal estate covers 1,100 hectares, including 110 hectares of vineyards and 60 hectares of olive groves, forming a single south-facing area of cultivated land. The terroir consists of brown, stony, well-drained soil on Urgonian limestone colluvium, which is ideal for growing vines and olive trees. Planted on gently sloping hillsides across 25 plots, 11 grape varieties are used to produce Calissanne wines. Legend has it that the famous calissons d'Aix, a delicacy made from almond paste, take their name from a hillside in Calissanne that was once planted with almond trees.

Guide Hachette des vins

About wine:

A former Celtic-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, Sophie, his wife, manages this vast 1,000-hectare property, including around 100 hectares of vineyards spread over 25 plots of gently sloping stony hillsides. A pillar of the Coteaux d'Aix AOC, led by technical director Jean Bonnet, who has been conducting in-depth research into planting policy and vineyard maintenance for twenty-five years.
Jean Bonnet, with the help of Denis Lang, planted a 1.8-hectare plot of Mourvèdre in 1996 on the estate's stony soil. Almost twenty years later, the result shows that this was a wise choice. This Rocher Rouge brings the estate its thirteenth Favorite The nose offers complex, generous and distinctive aromas of leather, Zan, garrigue and ripe fruit. In unison, the palate is perfectly concentrated, smooth and silky, supported by a solid tannic structure and perfectly adjusted aging. A wine with a strong character, thought out and mastered from start to finish.

About the estate:

A former Celtic-Ligurian stronghold, La Calissanne was owned by the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem in the Middle Ages, by an Aix parliamentarian 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, runs this vast 1,200-hectare estate, which includes 60 hectares of olive trees and around 100 hectares of vines, spread over 25 plots of gently sloping stony hillsides. This pillar of the Côteaux-d'Aix AOC, run for twenty-five years by Jean Bonnet—who conducted an in-depth review of the vineyard's planting and maintenance policy—is now managed by Christophe Barraud.