MOTHER NATURE
The Domaine des Florets draws its character from its exceptional terroir located on the heights of Gigondas, at the top of the Dentelles de Montmirail, one of the most beautiful classified sites in France.
In this biodiversity setting, the vines benefit from a very special situation, which makes it possible to avoid using water resources for irrigation and to limit the impact of climate change.
AOC Gigondas
The vines flourish on hillsides shaped by the hand of man, on an extraordinary, natural and protected site. The cultivation of vines at the foot of the famous Dentelles de Montmirail, dates back to Antiquity. The gray limestone soils constitute unique terroirs which allowed Gigondas to become the first Cru of the Côtes du Rhône Villages in 1971.
The maximum authorized yields in the Gigondas appellation are very low (36 hectoliters per hectare). Grenache Noir thrives wonderfully on this very harsh but magnificent terroir.
On 1200 hectares of vines, the AOC Gigondas is a rich landscape mosaic made up of forest, rocky, agricultural and aquatic environments in which live protected and remarkable animal and plant species such as the Egyptian vulture and the Ophrys scolopax.
The terroir
The Gigondas appellation has a particular geology with six different terroirs made up of alluvium, sand, gypsum, limestone, safre and marl. The upper part rests on sandy and calcareous molasses, with skeletal and light soils, very hot and resistant to drought. The lower part is made up of old alluvial deposits with broken pebbles, on the terraces of the Ouvèze. These are most often red soils (diluvium, loess, sandstone), and mostly soils with high permeability, high stoniness and rich in clay fraction.
The Dentelles de Montmirail massif is mainly composed of geological formations from the secondary era (Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous), between -200 and -60 million years. Its limestone rock bars are the result of tectonic movements (Nîmes fault) which have created a geological phenomenon, known as diapir, compared to real cold volcanism.
The plots of the Domaine extend over 4 hectares of steep terrain, at the top of the Dentelles Sarrasines in this grandiose landscape, protected by high limestone rocks artistically carved by erosion. Resulting from the scree of the Dentelles, the clay-limestone soils made up of blue marls form unique terroirs where old Grenache vines over 50 years old flourish, which give birth each year to wines of character.
The exposure
The climate of southern influence is hot and dry in Gigondas. With 2,800 hours of annual sunshine, it is contrasted and subject to the Mistral, the prevailing wind. Main vector of a most interesting microclimate, the dentelles induce very diverse exposures, cause rising and falling breezes and thus allow temperature peaks to be tempered.
In this biodiversity setting, my vines flourish at more than 500 meters above sea level. They profit both from the benefits of the Provençal sun and from a North-East exposure which brings the necessary freshness during periods of drought, avoids the excessive heat of summer and gives the wines a finesse and acidity so typical.