Why do our sommeliers like Luberon and Ventoux wines?

Sommelier interviews

Natalie MORNARD, sommelier Restaurant Le Vivier - Isle sur la Sorgue

Pascal VINCENT, sommelier La Bastide de Pierres (La Bastide de Gordes)

Alfredo Antonio ROMO, wine and spirits expert//Aromo Agency

Why do you like these wines?

Alfredo R.: For me they are very high quality wines. The large quantity of grape varieties, makes this territory a beautiful ambassador of French viticulture with great wines at a very good quality/price ratio. This variety is quite unique: on the southern side of the Luberon in the Durance valley the soils are sandy, marly and clayey.
On the slopes of the Luberon, the soils are more calcareous, enriched with rolled pebbles. Obviously, this broadens the range of aromas: whites are mineral and fresh and reds, gourmet or racy.

Pascal V.: For my part, I am a greedy above all! I like the delicacy of red wines, the liveliness of whites and the freshness of rosés. For the latter, the range is wide in the Luberon and Sud Ventoux, from pool rosé to gastronomic rosé whose color follows the evolution of tastes and the trend. Production is quickly sold out during the year. It's a shame because often a rosé is even better the year after!

Natahlie M.: These wines are very qualitative: they are drunk with pleasure at reasonable prices and their very wide variety linked to the expert work of the winemakers make them a great discovery. These wines may need time. Some red wines could be kept for 5 to 10 years. Some domains are leading a real reflection on the mastery of aging and produce wines that are accessible in their youth that hold very well over time.

In your opinion, what are the main characteristics of Luberon and Sud Ventoux wines?

Pascal V.: The first element that I highlight when I present one of these wines is the know-how of each winemaker. At the heart of small farms, these enthusiasts produce blended wines with meticulous and quality work. They vary their production by cultivating for example the same grape variety in different places and make blends by playing on the maturity of the plots. Each grape variety has a different aromatic signature that varies depending on the soil on which it grows.

Nathalie M.: Yes, the practice here is really based on assemblages from different parcels. The diversity of terroirs is so rich that the Luberon, Ventoux or IGP Vaucluse appellations all deserve sub-appellations.
In general, it is a natural production and often results organic or with controlled inputs.

Alfredo R.: Being part of the Luberon NRP has an undeniable impact on soil quality and the way crops are managed. A good proportion of the estates are organic, other producers work in a reasoned fight. This is all the easier here as the dry climate lends itself well to the requirements of this type of cultivation.

If you had to give a brief history of the history of wine in the Luberon and Monts de Vaucluse?

Alfredo R.: When the Romans settled in this territory, they mainly cultivated vines and cereals. Luberon wine, which was recognized, gradually dethroned Roman wines. Faced with this “foreign” competition, the emperor of the time decreed the uprooting of vines in Provence and only authorized the cultivation of cereals. It will take a century and another emperor for viticulture to be allowed again and the vines to return to our landscape.
Later, the papacy gave a new lease of life to wine culture in Comtat Venaissin, partly for the preparation of mass wine.

And today, where are we at?

Alfredo R.: In recent decades, the cultivation of vines in this territory has benefited from technological evolution and more selective production (less intensive and more qualitative).

Pascal V.: This goes hand in hand with the evolution of people's behavior towards wine: they drink less but better. It is a pleasure wine grown no longer in abundance but with love and precision by the estates and cellars. The latter also value the quality of the work of each winemaker according to the quality of the grapes: they create very elaborate wines.