Grignan-Les Adhemar AOC

Grignan-Les Adhemar

Wine region
Official name	Grignan-Les Adhemar AOC
Type	AOC
Year established	VDQS 1965; AOC 1973
Years of wine industry	>2,000
Country	France
Part of	Rhône Valley
Climate region	mediterranean
Soil conditions	limestone clay, sand, quaternary sediment
Total area	2,830
Size of planted vineyards	2,566
No. of vineyards	307
Grapes produced	Bourboulenc, Carignan, Cinsault, Clairette blanche, Grenache, Grenache blanc, Mourvèdre, Marsanne, Roussane, Syrah, Viognier
No. of wineries	66
Wine produced	red, white, rosé
Comments	2005

The Grignan-Les Adhemar AOC (formerly the Côteaux du Tricastin) is the northernmost wine-growing AOC in the southern area of the Rhône wine region of France. The wines are produced in 21 communes in the department of Drôme on the east bank of the Rhône River in a triangle bounded by Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, Montélimar, and Grignan; opposite the Côtes du Vivarais AOC on the right bank. the vineyards straddle both the true Mediterranean and the continental climatic regions where in this part of France the transition is rapid, winter snow being frequent in Montélimar but rare some 20 - 30 kilometres further south. In this transitional area between the northern and southern Rhône wine regions that constitutes the northern limit of the Provence, the climate in Baume-le-Transit and St Paul are more typically Mediterranean climate than the slightly cooler areas dominated by the Lance mountain.^[1]

According to archeological finds, particularly the remains of the largest Roman wine villa in Donzère dating from the 1st century BC, wine has been produced in the region since the antiquity. Tricastin wines were mentioned in the writings of the Marquise de Sevigné in the 16th century. The wines were accorded an AOVDQS on 19 March 1964, and were awarded their AOC on 27 July 1973.^[1]