Livre Vins de Cassis

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Autre particularité de la côte cassidaine : ses deux rivières souterraines qui se jettent dans la mer devant le phare (rivière de Bestouan) et dans la calanque de Port-Miou. L’eau à proximité du rivage s’en trouve rafraîchie.

… ET LE VIN

Mais l’influence de la Méditerranée se fait sentir bien au-delà du domaine maritime. Dans l’amphithéâtre de Cassis, elle est omniprésente, régissant le climat et façonnant le caractère des vins. Si la moyenne des températures est ici un peu plus élevée qu’à Aubagne, quelques kilomètres de plus à l’intérieur des terres, c’est surtout parce que les hivers y sont plus doux. Les moyennes de températures de l’été, par contre, sont très semblables, bien que les maximales soient plus élevées dans l’intérieur, ainsi que le nombre de jours de grande chaleur. Il faut y voir l’effet atté- nuant de la présence d’une masse d’eau, d’ailleurs rafraîchie par les rivières souterraines, et des entrées maritimes. Quant à la moyenne des précipitations (610 mm), si elle est un peu moindre que celle de l’intérieur, elle est très inégalement répartie au fil des mois : les pluies, concentrées en automne et en hiver, parfois au printemps, laissent place à des étés chauds et secs.

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and 11,200 hectares onshore. The park has made it possible to protect the vast prairie-like beds of seagrass; aquatic flowering plants that form the hub of a rich and complex ecosystem and have been declared as a European ‘Site of Community Importance’. Another particular feature of the Cassis coastline is the two underground rivers that flow into the sea in front of the lighthouse (the Bestouan river) and into the Port-Miou creek. These two submarine springs cool the water close to the shore. But the influence of the Mediterranean is also felt way beyond the maritime world. In the natural amphitheatre of Cassis, its permanent presence is felt in the way it regulates the climate and shapes the character of the region’s wines. Although the average temperature here is a little higher than in Aubagne a few miles further inland, what makes the character of these wines so distinctive has more to do with the extremely mild winters ... and wine

here. Average summer temperatures are very similar, although the highest levels are achieved only inland, which also enjoys more very hot days than the coastal areas. These lower temperatures are due to the constant presence of an enormous body of water that is continually cooled by underground rivers and onshore breezes. Average rainfall (610 mm) is slightly lower than inland, and is spread very unevenly over the months of the year, with the majority of rain falling during the autumn and winter (and occasionally during the spring), leaving the summer months hot and dry. Vines have demonstrated their preference for Provence and its Mediterranean climate for millennia: this climate gives them the light and heat they need for photosynthesis, the relatively dry conditions that protect them from disease, and water in sufficient quantities to avoid excessive stress. In Cassis, they also benefit from the region’s onshore breezes and chalky soils, which conserve the freshness of flavour and good structure that characterise great white wines. Cassis also owes its unmistakable Provençal character to its grape varieties: the native Mediterranean varieties of Clairette,

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