• Terroirs •
Brézème
Drôme
Brézème, the Most Southern of Northern Rhône Vineyards
The Brézème vineyard is located on the north bank of the Drôme, at the confluence of the Rhône. The south-facing slope of Brézème is composed of limestone marl similar to the Beaume-Maison Blanche area in Hermitage. Its geological characteristics, very atypical in the northern Rhône valley, combined with its exposure to the cold winds from the last ridges of the Vercors, make Brézème a unique vineyard. The grape varieties of the northern Rhône are grown here, with only Syrah and Roussanne at Domaine de Pergaud, which is now run by our son Martin. The wines have a marked terroir profile.
Brézème, an Arcane Vineyard
The total area of the Brézème hillside is only 22 hectares. The rest of the Livron commune has a variety of soils that differ from the hillside with only a small portion planted to vines. The history of Brézème is really old. The vineyard could have disappeared completely during the phylloxera crisis, the epidemics of the 20th century and the wars, but has stayed with us the whole time.
Brézème hill
The 1st Certified Organic Estate in Brézème
When Eric discovered Brézème in 1998, the hillside had only a handful of vines still being cultivated. It was the great Saint-Joseph winemaker Raymond Trollat who put us in touch with his friend François Pouchoulin, whose family was the last to maintain vines on the hillside in the 1970s. The conviction that Brézème was a unique terroir and the desire to take up a wonderful challenge founded our beautiful adventure over 20 years ago. The Domaine de Pergaud was created step by step - farming, organic conversion, purchase of vines, replanting, transmission to Martin - and today extends over 5.5 hectares on the hillside.
The Lack of a Brézème Appellation
The terroir of Brézème is absolutely unique and would fully justify its own appellation. Yet, it is not identified among the crus: the decline of the area at the time of the creation of the Northern Rhône’s crus appellations led to its neglect by the INAO authorities. The vineyard is in a grey zone, neither quite a regional appellation (Côtes du Rhône by default, even though the vineyard does not meet the official specifications) nor quite a cru. The mention "Brézème", which has been present on bottles for a very long time, is a unique exception in France.
Ouvèze Valley
Ardèche
An Isolated Vineyard on the Right Bank of the Rhône
Finding vines in the Ardèche’s Ouvèze valley is not obvious. About twenty kilometers south of the vineyards of Cornas and Saint-Peray, a rare and unique terroir is nestled at the foot of a mountain on the northern bank of the Ouvèze. It stretches from Rompon to Coux - almost from the Rhône to Privas - but existing vineyards are very limited. Only about fifty hectares remain cultivated, mainly in Saint-Julien en Saint-Alban, where there are only four active farmers.
The Unique and Rich Geology of the Ouvèze Valley
The Ouvèze marks the radical geological separation between the southern Ardèche with its limestone soils and the granitic foothills typical of the northern Rhône. At this point, a deep fault formed, revealing 300 million years of subsoil history. The result is an exceptional geo-diversity: on a granitic flank, slopes of leptynite (fine-grained gneiss) and schists on a substratum of calcareous marls.
Vines of Saint Julien-en-Saint-Alban
The Merger between the North and South of the Rhône Valley
Despite being on the same latitude as Brézème, located where cold winds sweep through the vines, the Ouvèze valley vineyard benefits from a southern climate. The grape varieties are truly diverse: Syrah is the most present but Grenache and Cinsault are also planted for reds. For whites, Clairette, Roussanne, Marsanne, Muscat and Viognier are planted. From these soils, we produce 100% Syrah wines and blended wines (Grenache, Cinsault, white grapes) or Clairette. The terroir expresses itself in a unique way here too. The wines are classified as Côtes du Rhône - Côtes du Rhône with 12% alcohol even in 2020!
Another Decisive Meeting
To discover this secret terroir, we had to be introduced to it. It was a neighbor from Brézème who created the relationship with a family of winegrowers from Saint-Julien en Saint-Alban. Passionate, entirely devoted to the vines planted by their family, they have always managed them without any recourse to agrochemicals. At the time, the wines produced in the Ouvèze valley were supplying bulk markets and nobody had any idea what this terroir represented. The first vintage of our Saint-Julien en Saint-Alban Vieille Serine in 2009 is the memory of a magical moment: the revelation of a terroir.
Our terroirs on a map
Maps designed by La Carte des Vins s’il vous plaît