Domaine du Bagnol Cassis Rouge 'Cuvee Marquis de Fesques'

'Its encepagement of 80% Mourvedre and 20% Grenache recalls Bandol (which sits just 19 miles to the east of Cassis), but its personality is friendlier—its fruits redder and crunchier, its tannins a charged caress rather than a boot to the throat. Still, it is an amply concentrated wine, full of dusty Mourvedre spice and with a vivacious sappiness that speaks of its low-yielding 50-year-old vines. There is something very pure and pretty at its core, a joyousness that underlines its kinship with the Blanc and the Rosé, and it is a thrill to taste a wine that combines intensity and lift in such a fashion. In producing this beauty, Sebastien Genovesi destemmed the grapes entirely, allowed them to ferment spontaneously, and employed a lengthy three-week maceration with daily pigeage and remontage. It was raised in previously used 600-liter oak barrels, and bottled in February of this year. While nobody should be judged for opening it right away, the wine will undoubtedly develop a savory southern swagger with bottle age as its Mourvedre-driven fruits learn umami.' - Importer's Notes