The estate was born from the passion of Pierre and Mireille, from the meeting of two families. Pierre Giraud is the son of a line of winegrowers over 6 centuries old. A descendant of the Armenier family, he has always worked his vineyard with passion. The Buou family had owned the village distillery for several generations, Mireille has always worked in unison with her husband for the development of the vineyard. Today, she is in charge of all the administration of the estate. The story begins in 1974 when Pierre and Mireille started to cultivate 4 hectares of vines as sharecropping.
Over a period of 12 years, the estate gradually expanded with the acquisition of land for rent and sharecropping. In 1981, Pierre and Mireille transformed the family distillery into a wine cellar for the vinification and maturing of the wines. The same year they gave birth to their first vintage at the estate.
In 1987, the Armenier family’s vineyard was handed down to the children. Pierre and Mireille take care of 8 hectares of century-old vines located on the plateau of La Crau, Les Galimardes and on the sandy soils of the so-called Pignan area near the Le Rayas district. In 1998, Pierre in turn passed on his passion for vines and wine to his children. Marie and François, after studying viticulture and oenology, took over the estate hand in hand. Under the benevolent eye of their parents, they devoted themselves to the cultivation of the vine and the making of wines.
They are involved in a work of plot selection, renovating their cellar to produce ever more elegant wines, in the respect of family traditions, however the great change appears during the transition to organic farming in 2008.
Our Soil
Our estate now covers 35 hectares, including 8 hectares in one piece, located to the south of the appellation in the Galimardes district. This terroir is well known for its large pebbled soil, which is diffuse, when the evening comes, a gentle heat brings concentration and power to the grapes while preserving a beautiful minerality. On these plots, we cultivate vines of century-old Grenache, Mourvèdre and young Syrah. Our white grape varieties, Clairette, Bourboulenc, Grenache Blanc and Roussane are planted nearby. The rest of the estate is spread over the northern districts of the appellation.
Our Grenaches, more than a hundred years old, are rooted in the Crau districts and on the Pignan plateau. These terroirs, whose reputation is well known, are composed of sandy soils that bring finesse and elegance to this emblematic grape variety.
In the Les Tresquoys district, our Syrahs flourish on the hillside on a clay soil mixed with this rich soil, typical of the appellation.
We take care to work each plot and each grape variety with the greatest respect for the terroir, for the alchemy that nature gives them, to express the richness of their grapes.