When in Provence, I discussed with Michael the traditional [wine] match with this classic Provençal dish.
He emphatically advocated either a Bandol Rosé or Cassis, while (in my ignorance of both of these wines) thought that I would like to see how a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc fared.
Well Michael, it has taken me nearly two years, but yesterday I finally got around to doing a [near-as-authentic as I could manage] bouillabaisse; white fleshed fish (gurnard) NZ green lipped mussels, prawns, tomatoes, leeks, saffron, a splash of Pernod, orange zest etc)
In a recent trip to my favourite importer of French wines in Auckland, I spied a Ch. de Pibanon Bandol Rosé 2004 and a Clos Sainte-Magdeleine Cassis blanc 2005 (both outrageously expensive!) on the shelf , to which I added a bottle of "Astrolabe" Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2006.
Well Michael, I simply concluded that ALL THREE wines worked very well; I loved the rosé (others would have preferred this as a perfect chilled summer wine!)
The Cassis caught me by surprise; a little more vanilla / honey than I anticipated, but a "different" and enjoyable wine.
Without letting parochial bias intrude, the Marlborough SB was preferred by
5/6 as the best match (I was the dissenting vote, favouring the rosé.)
A well-worth-while experiment Michael - we should do this again next year in France!