Paris and Provence, Day 4: Bandol and Cassis Wine
Breakfast at Crêpes Cidre et Compagnie was worth getting up for. Ksenia had apple and caramel; I had pear and caramel. The crêpes were tender, the caramel heavenly, and the woman behind the counter was nice. Lunch was bread, ham, cheese, butter, fruit, and wine from the market.
Our wine-tour guide Fabien took us first to Domaines Bunan in Bandol. I learned how they check sugar levels before picking the best grapes by hand, cool them immediately, and gently press them. Rosé gets a short time in contact with red-grape skins; reds stay with the skins for weeks and have to be stirred as the skins rise. The older vines have deeper roots. We also got the barrel lesson: smaller barrels exchange more tannins with the wine, while larger barrels slow that down as the wine ages.
At Cassis Bodin, white wine was the main event. It was mineral and flinty. We had about 45 minutes to walk around Cassis before heading back for dinner at Le Petit Verdot in Aix. Ksenia had foie gras and sea bass. I had the house-specialty artichoke followed by slow-cooked baby pork. We drank a 2018 Bodin white; the one we had tasted earlier was sold out.
Part of our August–September 2019 trip through Provence and Paris. Trip summary.
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