• Origins of the appelation • Dedicated winemakers • A bespoke bottle for the appellation • The appellation in figures • A brotherhood to promote the appellation’s wines

Origins of the Appellation.

Lirac, vineyard of the Gard and birthplace of Côtes du Rhône wines

Nature and history have both granted Lirac’s plantations high status among the wines of the Côtes du Rhône.
The prestige of Lirac’s wines can be traced back to the 16th century, although there is plenty of evidence that vines were already planted during the Roman occupation.
In the 16th century, Lirac’s wines, whose quality was much appreciated, took the limelight on the tables of the era’s great royal courts, both in France and abroad. The wines were also highly rated by enlightened enthusiasts among the aristocracy and the haute bourgeoisie in Paris. The village of Saint-Laurent-des-Arbres, which lies within the appellation’s boundaries, still bears the traces of this lavish past. A former enclave of the diocese of Avignon, it was home to a vine belonging to the bishops.
The vine stretched right around the local castle, which is easy to recognize by its unusual keep; and produced enough wine to send across the river, by way of a tithe, “five vessels of red wine, taken from the bottom of the barrel”.
In view of this, the wine merchants of the time fast realized the need to guarantee the origin of the wine, in order to prevent fraudulent use of the Lirac name. Yes, even then! The magistrates of Roquemaure, a major river port from where the wine embarked on journeys to distant destinations, thus authenticated the wines of Lirac
by using a red iron to mark the barrels with the letters “C.D.R.”.

Between the 16th and 18th centuries, the first regulations governing the production and sale of the wines were also introduced. To use the “C.D.R.” label, the winemakers had to comply with very strict discipline. After inspecting the vines, the consuls of Lirac set the date of the harvest. Anyone picking grapes before that date was condemned to pay a fine in support of the poor; to have their crop confiscated and handed over to the local community; and lastly, to see their crop-baskets burnt on the village square! Some of the legal provisions concerning production and sale that were brought in during this era served as the basis, two centuries later, for the AOC regulations.
Over the centuries, the port of Roquemaure became powerful, prosperous and famous for the consignments of wine dispatched around France and to England, Holland and Germany. In 1737 the local winemakers – in trail-blazing style – met in Saint-Laurent-des-Arbres and founded a union to defend their rights and the interests of their appellation. Which explains why the vineyard
of the Gard acquired the title “birthplace of Côtes du Rhône wines”.

The story of a count and an A.O.C. (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée)

Lirac owes part of its destiny to the personality of Count Henri de Régis de Gatimel. In 1804 the latter’s family – through successive marriages – inherited the Château de Ségriès, which today still stands at the heart of the appellation. At the time, the estate was hardly thriving. It drew its resources from a few cereal crops, silkworms and a modest vineyard. In 1925, the count decided to rebuild the vineyard that had existed on the estate in Roman times.
In the 1930s, he took up another challenge – to obtain for his vineyard the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) label. It would take its name, like other appellations already created, from the central village of the production area – Lirac, in this case. The count’s plan materialised just after the end of World War II. The appellation was granted legal status by the court of Uzès on 11th October 1945. And the final mark of recognition came some time later.
After two years of investigations into vineyards’ land and the types of wine made, the experts of the Institut National des Appellations d’Origine finished defining the boundaries of the Lirac AOC. This work culminated in the Lirac AOC label, issued in a government decree dated 14th October 1947. The label marked the advent of a new appellation, but also of the first Côtes du Rhône wine to be made in the three colours: red, rosé and white.