Un peu...
The flower that you’ll find on our wine bottles, is called the “Gaillarde”. We chose it as our symbol because it happens to be the historical name of our winery and, in common with our vineyards, has the ability to flourish in the dry, sunny Provençal climate.
Beaucoup...
A number of factors make our wine region special. Being the northernmost of all the Southern Côtes du Rhône vineyards, VALREAS’ terroir spreads out across the slopes and plateaux of the Préalpes at high altitudes, ranging from 250m to 450m. This unique combination of latitude, altitude, and the Provençal climate gives our wines their unique identity, a blend of freshness, finesse and hearty roundness.
Presentation Of Our Wines
Our growers take special care to harvest the grapes at their best. Our winery’s advanced equipment is then able to sort and select the incoming harvest, so you’ll
always find a wine in our range that suits your palate and matches the occasion.
Our wines are created from 11 distinct grape varieties:
For red and rosé wines: red Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Mourvèdre, Cinsault.
For white wines: White Grenache, Roussanne, Marsanne, Viognier, Clairette, Bourboulenc.
Our winemaker artfully blends these grape varieties to produce wines of distinctive character.
At Caveau St Jean you’ll find some great gift ideas: local produce, boxed wine selections, magnums, and a large choice of hand painted bottles, or bottles that can be painted to commemorate a special occasion.
Come and taste our wines in a warm and friendly atmosphere.
An Historical Oddity
Valreas is the capital of an ‘enclave’, a little island of the Vaucluse surrounded by the Drôme. The explanation for this anomaly goes back to the middle-ages.
Pope Jean XXII, elected in Lyon in 1317, became poorly while travelling back to his palace in Avignon. He decided to rest in Valréas and while there tasted the local wine. His health and spirits improved immediately. He was so delighted he decided to acquire Valréas and its surrounding lands, laying out boundary stones (Bornes Papales) to mark his territory.
The Enclave des Papes was born, and as for Jean XXII, he lived to be 89!
Nowadays, the inhabitants of the Enclave des Papes are proud of their history particularly the descendants of the grape growers who “healed” the pope.
