Livre Vins de Cassis

Diversité des sols...

et des sous-sols. La coupe réalisée par le géologue Georges Truc détaille les différentes couches géologiques de l’appellation, de la Couronne de Charlemagne aux Calanques : elles sont au nombre de neuf, ce qui est assez impressionnant pour un si petit territoire. Mais surtout, le sol de surface n’est pas toujours un bon indicateur de la composition du sous-sol. Ainsi, sous les éboulis du quaternaire, que l’on trouve sur les versants ainsi que sous les dépôts des vallons, relativement minces, se dissi- mulent une variété de sous-sols beaucoup plus anciens.

•••

Diversity of soils...

and subsoils. The cross-section produced by geologist Georges Truc details the various geological layers of the appellation, from the Couronne de Charlemagne to the coastal creeks: the fact that there are nine of them is rather impressive for such a small area. But most importantly, the topsoil is not always an accurate indicator of the subsoil composition. So beneath the fallen quaternary rocks of the hillside slopes and beneath the relatively shallow valley floor deposits lie a variety of much older subsoils. In terms of salinity too, with seven miles of coastline, Cassis is well served: the onshore breezes that sweep in across the sea, and sometimes cover Cassis in cloud when seen from Cap Canaille, deposit salty spray on part of the vineyard. It is clear that this marine influence was much more pronounced in the Cretaceous period during which the limestones, marls and sandstones of Cassis were formed: at that time - around 130 million years ago — the whole of France was covered by sea, with the exception of the Armorican Massif and the Massif Central; Cassis was therefore beneath the waves. The Urgonian limestone is what is described

as a sedimentary facies, one particular type of limestone formed in the Lower Cretaceous period. With its compact structure, this rock is fairly widespread in Provence, and the period even takes its name from the commune of Orgon on the banks of the River Durance, where this particular facies was first observed. Cassis stone, quarried from the coastal creeks until the 1980s, has been more accurately dated as being 115 million years old. This puts it in the Aptian age, which in addition to the limestones also saw the formation of grey and white marls. These marls — which are also found at Bandol — are a mixture of calcite and clay; depending on the precise proportions, geologists refer to it as argillaceous limestone or calcareous clay. But in any event, the link between Cassis and the sea — or even salinity — is not something that happened yesterday or even during the most recent geological age...

So what does that mean for vines?

The presence of these different soil types — limestone, marl and sandstone — is of great importance to the Cassis vineyard, because it

122