Domaine des Bastides - fortified Provençal wine

fortified wine according to Provencal tradition.

Producer: Domaine Les Bastides

Traditionally the fortified wine is the valuable wine that we used to serve to quality hosts.
In the last century, each family had its own Provencal fortified wine and famous regional authors like Frédéric Mistral and Marie Mauron evoke this agreeable beverage in their writings.
In 1975, Jean SALEN, still unknown in the world of wine, decided to recreate the sweet wine of his childhood.
At that time, production was completely discontinued.
Jean SALEN has done extensive research to find the original recipe of this fortified wine.

This recipe, prepared without sugar adjunction, alcohol or any other product, is simple:

After pressing, the fresh grape juice (must) is cooked in a cauldron.
Tanked, the juice is fermented for about a month.
Then it is filtered and bottled before the period of the holiday season.

In Provence a tradition that on Christmas Eve, we end the "Gros Souper" (lean meal of vegetables and fish) with "13 sweets".
The fortified wine perfectly accompanies these "13 sweets", especially “the pump with oil”.
During the evening the grandfather and Benjamin's family make the ritual "cacho fio":
In the fireplace where burns a big fruit tree log, the elder takes a glass of this fortified wine to relive the flame by saying some Provencal ancestral formula, a kind of blessing of family perpetuation.

Today the fortified wine is tasted at Christmas, as on all occasions. It goes wonderfully with fruit desserts but also marries well with spices, foie gras, cheeses or chocolate.
It offers your imagination to the creation of new and tasty weddings.