A Provence State of Mind
10/15/2024
As seen in the picture above, Domaine de Bagnol in Cassis is a pure paradise of vineyards surrounded by mountains on 3 sides and the sea on the other (out of sight to the right). The climate is surprisingly fresh due to the winds that blow regularly keeping out diseases and promoting organic viticulture, with low humidity and heaps of sunshine whilst temperatures rarely exceed the low 90s in the heat of the summer. I arrived in the morning on September 30th and the temperature was a glorious 69 degrees, with nary a cloud in sight and the sun glowing above, coating everything in it's golden light and warmth. A cool breeze was rustling through the vines bringing with it the unmistakable whiff of sea spray. I joined up with sister and brother team Lisa and Sebastien Genovesi, the former who declared emphatically that there was no excuse to not be organic in their region, a sentiment echoed by all the other winemakers I met in Bandol , the Luberon and Southern Rhone. As one said, when it rains in Lyon and the Northern Rhone, we get the winds instead, the Mistral. The two gins in the picture below says it all...
The current story of Domaine du Bagnol starts with Papa Jean Paul Genovesi, who in 1997 bought the Domaine from winemaker and proprietor Clair Lefevre, whose wines were already being imported stateside by importer Neal Rosenthal. According to Jean Paul's daughter Lisa, her father, native to Cassis, went off to Paris and created France's first digital payroll company. He sold it so that he could buy the Domaine, where as a child, he used to climb over the wall with his school friends to eat the cherries off the trees near the road. Naturally the family is pleased as punch for the return full cycle: they are the first to remark on the historical continuation of the Domaine as the oldest winery in Cassis since the 1430s and owned by the Marquis de Fesque ( whose name and emblem graces the label )in the 19th century. However, even predating all written records, grapes were grown there and wines made in Roman times and the Middle Ages. Fun fact: Cassis was also France's first AOC created in 1936. Considering what an impressive patrimoine accompanies the estate, it is all the more surprising at how affordable their wines still are.
We are pleased as punch to offer 3 wines: their calling card rose, their unique field blend white and their top of the line red from the Marquis' oldest vines featuring the star Provencal red grape Mourvedre. We hope you will try all three and enjoy a Provencal Indian Summer! -Giselle "Gigi" Hamburg
