Plan de Dieu
Look away into the distance
and find yourself
In the very heart
of the Rhône Valley
La présence de vignes est attestée sur le Plan de Dieu depuis 1326.
Reconnaissance en appellation Côtes-du-Rhône avec nom de commune
Villages: Violès, Travaillan, Camaret-sur-Aigues, Jonquières
Vignerons
Hectares
%
Des exploitations en agriculture biologique
Terroir homogène: argiles rouges et galets roulés
At the foothill of the Dentelles de Montmirail, the Côtes-du-Rhône Villages Plan de Dieu appellation extends. It is here, that for thousands of years men and women have worked with humility and discretion to reveal an exceptional terroir. A discreet appellation but with a strong character.
HISTORY
The origin of the name of the appellation is mainly attributed to the sisters of Prébayon Abbey who tended the land in the Middle Ages. The girls who joined the religious orders in this cloister situated in the Dentelles de Montmirail mountains came with a dowry often made up of land which was worth nothing in those days.
In the Middle Ages, the region, and particularly this huge plateau with its dense forests, was full of brigands and other robbers who ambushed travellers. So, when travelling in the region, it was best to put yourself in God’s hands!
HISTORY
For a long time, vine cultivation was abandoned on Plan de Dieu, but in the 1920s a company called Fly Tox decided to grow pyrethrum there, but this activity was rapidly delocalized and the site became wild again.
HISTORY
After the Second World War, the visionary Gabriel Meffre, on his return from mobilisation in Tunisia, saw its potential to resemble the big Mediterranean vineyards cultivated using Bull machinery and American earth-flattening equipment. So, the Plan de Dieu parcels were gradually brought back into use after a major demining operation. This was necessary because the Plan de Dieu region was a strategic military site due to its aerodrome and, as a result, had been heavily bombed.
A stele in memory
of the American liberators
TERROIR & WINES
This vineyard of 1500 hectares is situated at an altitude of 110m, to the east of Orange and surrounded by four villages: Jonquières, Violès, Camaret-sur-Aigues, and Travaillan. Bathed in sunlight, it also benefits from the cleansing virtues of the strong Mistral wind.
The few remaining woods are dispersed within this vineyard set on a bed of red clay and a multitude of large rounded pebbles which sink down into the earth to a depth of ten metres. Due to this significant thickness, the terrains are skeletal and produce little: hardly more than one bottle per vine!
TERROIR & WINES
We make red wines only, using three flagship Côtes-du-Rhône varietals: mainly Grenache, blended with Syrah and Mourvèdre. On this terroir, their combination gives shimmering, deep-coloured, dense wines with concentrated aromas of red berries, spices and scents of the surrounding scrubland: fragrances of thyme, bay and undergrowth. With time, they evolve towards notes of leather, aniseed and liquorice.
TERROIR & WINES
In 2005, the vineyard received the Côtes-du-Rhône Villages appellation with geographical denomination . After timid and prudent beginnings, the Côtes-du-Rhône Villages Plan de Dieu has become the number one Côtes-du-Rhône Villages appellation in volume with an average annual production of 40,000 hectolitres per year.
OUR PRODUCERS
The key to the success of Côtes-du-Rhône Villages Plan de Dieu is not divine intervention but the work of men. Thanks to the homogeneity of the terroir, our producers obtain wines that are equally homogenous and, when we taste them, we discover that there is not a great difference between their wines, apart from the personal touch of the winegrower.
Come and get to know the 65 winegrowers of our appellation.
from generation
to generation…
Plan de Dieu 2020 vintage: finesse and aging potential
Once again, the Plan de Dieu Appellation proves its regularity. It did withstand climatic variations without difficulty. Neither the spring drought - which lasted throughout the summer - nor the high temperatures of July and August affected the quality of the vintage....
The Gourmet Walk of Plan de Dieu
Fancy discovering the Plan de Dieu Appellation while taking a breath of fresh air? Every last Sunday of April, all disciples of Dionysus are invited to join the 9-kilometer « Balade de Plan de Dieu » by walking through the vineyards from one cellar to the other with a...
CONTACT
SYNDICAT DES VIGNERONS
DU PLAN DE DIEU
2600 Route de Cairanne
84150 Violes
