History

The vine in the Côtes du Rhône: a long history!

The vine appears in the region more than 2,000 years ago, introduced by the Greek founders of Massilia (Marseille) in the 6th century BC. But it was the Romans who established the first vineyard some 100 years before Christ, going up along the Rhône valley.

Later, they are chased from the territory and the vines disappear. It was in the Middle Ages that the vineyard was reborn under the leadership of the church, the King and princes.

Towards the end of the 17th century, vines gradually covered all the reliefs and Olivier de Serres, an illustrious agronomist, praised the wines of Ardèche "so precious and delicate that there is no need to look for them elsewhere". .

In the 18th century, the name Côtes du Rhône appeared to clearly identify quality wines, produced in a defined area from Tavel to our neighbors at Pont-St-Esprit. The barrels are marked with the letters “CDR”.

The vineyard was well developed at the beginning of the 20th century (more than 25,000 hectares in Ardèche) and the winegrowers came together. This is the appearance of cooperative cellars.

The Côtes du Rhône appellation was ratified by a decree of November 19, 1937 which covered 163 communes.

From the cooperative cellar of Saint Just, Saint Marcel and Saint Martin d'Ardèche to the Cellier des Gorges de l'Ardèche
For the Cellier des Gorges de l’Ardèche, the story begins in 1929 with a few winegrowers who decided to pool technical resources and know-how. He therefore created the cooperative cellar of Saint Just, Saint Marcel and Saint Martin d'Ardèche.

The development of the cellar will go hand in hand with that of the vineyard, notably with building extensions in 1957, 1976 then 2003.

Production increased to reach 66,000 hectoliters in 1980, then the evolution became qualitative rather than quantitative. The volumes produced per hectare have decreased significantly. The AOC Côtes du Rhône, then the IGP Ardèche, took precedence over table wines, which had become marginal in our production.

Today, nearly 500 hectares allow us to exploit the variety of our terroirs and grape varieties for an average production of 25,000 hectoliters.

Being proud of our heritage and our region, the cellar of Saint Just, Saint Marcel d'Ardèche and Saint Martin d'Ardèche changed its name a few years ago to become the Cellier des Gorges de l'Ardèche!