Mont Ventoux Pays De Sault Comtat Venaissin VaucluseProduced on the right and left banks of the Rhône between Vienne and Avignon, the Côtes-du-Rhône are “controlled designation of origin” wines. The designation area is spread over 44,000 hectares and the following six departments: Ardèche, Drôme, Gard, Loire, Rhône ande Vaucluse. Côtes du Rhône production reached 1,280,240 hectolitres in 2018, with 84% red wine, 10% rosé and 6% white, the Côtes du Rhône obtained their AOC as a guarantee of their quality in 1937.
Set up by decree in 1966 and 1967, the AOC Côtes du Rhône Villages now covers 90 municipalities spread over four departments: Ardèche, Drôme, Gard, and Vaucluse. To the north, the vines benefit from the Mistral wind which blows inland, resulting in bunches of grapes which give highly concentrated wines. In the south, the vines sheltered from the wind enjoy a hot microclimate which enables an earlier harvest in the season. In 2018, the production of Côtes du Rhône Villages reached some 316,266 hectolitres, with 96% red, 3% white and 1% rosé.
In the heart of the Natural Regional Park, the vines of the Luberon take advantage of a gentle Mediterranean climate and the region’s mineral-packed soils. Classified as a Biosphere Reserve in 1977 by UNSECO, the soils are made up of Miocene sands in the Pays d’Aigues, mountain limestone scree and red clay in the Apt region. At altitudes between 200 and 450 m, the vines of the Luberon also enjoy a relatively cool climate which benefits the 3,363 hectares of the vineyard. The production of Luberon wines reached around 151,391 hectolitres in 2018, with 28% red, 52% rosé and 20% white.
Recognized since 1973, the Ventoux designation refers to a vineyard located on a territory spread out over 51 municipalities. In the middle of an exceptional site listed as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1990, the Ventoux vines benefit from the different types of mineral-packed soils in the region. First of all, the red soils, which indicate a high content of limestone, the soils which are the result of a mixture of sand and ochre clay, and lastly the detritic soils made up of rolled stones and mountain scree. With 5,701 hectares reserved for the designation, the Ventoux production reached 242,222 hectolitres in 2018 with 56% red, 38% rosé and 6% white.
An absolute reference for wine, the Châteauneuf-du-Pape designation is one of the most prestigious in the region. The first wine-producing AOC in France in 1936, the designation is also becoming a pioneer in France with its transition to organic. The vineyard of Châteauneuf-du-Pape is located alongside the Rhône at an altitude of 120 metres and is spread over the territories of the five municipalities which are all favoured by a typically Mediterranean climate. The 3,133 hectares of production are mainly concentrated around one rootstock alone, grenache, that the 290 wine-growing enterprises make into 80,000 hl of red wine each year. The rich soils of the region result from its four geological structures: rolled pebbles, molassic sandstone, red clay, hard limestone rocks and sandy hillsides.
