Clos Ste. Magdeleine 2024 Cassis Rosé, Provence

Cassis, the little French Mediterranean fishing village between Marseille and Bandol, is best known for its seafood-friendly crisp white wines made in small quantities and appreciated by posh tourists and well-to-do locals.  What few know, however, is that Cassis also produces tiny quantities of some of the finest rosé wines in all of France.  Is it because the cool sea breezes give a lift to the grapes offering brilliance and a sense of alive-ness?  Is it because the Grenache, Cinsault and Mourvedre grown there are uniquely adapted to the coastal South-of-France soil and climate? 

Of course, it's both.

Clos Ste. Magdeleine is situated on one of the most stunning locales in the entire world of wine, extending on a small appendix of a peninsula into the sea, bordered by sheer cliffs lording over the narrow inlets of churning, azure water.  A small forest at the end of the outcropping provides a wind break for the occasional storms that can sometimes be fierce.  Grapes for the estate are grown in the home vineyard and on nearby hillsides, and are now under the watchful eye of owner and winemaker Jonathon Sack.

We get excited every year each time our tiny allocation hits our door (2 cases for the vintage), and we can't wait to uncork this clean, bright rose with its quintessential Provence character.

This is a Kermit Lynch discovery, from the same importer that brings us Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé each year.  It’s an unbeatable twosome.