AOC Côtes du Rhône Villages Plan de Dieu
Climb one of the surrounding hills and you can see just how vast ‘God’s Plain’ really is. Hundreds of years ago this was a forest, teeming with bandits. To cross it, you’d have to entrust yourself to the almighty and take your chances.
Today, instead of trees, this vast, flat terrace is covered in vines as far as the eye can see. They make more wine here than any other Named Village.
The plain lies between two rivers – the Aygues and the Ouvèze – that feed into the Rhône from the east. Over thousands of years, they’ve laid down a deep bed of pebbles and clay that’s perfect for cultivating vines. They bask in the sun, and are cooled by the north wind.
This sunny spot makes for deeply flavoursome and muscular wine that are packed with forest berries and dried herbs, that take on leathery, woody notes as they age.
If you like bold, full-bodied red wines, the Plan de Dieu is a godsend.
Informations
Climate: Medierranean influenced by Mistral wind
Soils: Sandy / Limestone / Clay
Website appellation : https://plandedieu.com/
Key figures
Production surface area in 2023: 1 170 HA
Total production in 2023: 41 871 HL
Average annual yeld: 36 HL/HA
Year of recognition within the AOC Côtes du Rhône Villages: 2005
Communes : Camaret-sur-Aigues, Jonquières, Travaillan and Violès
Grape varieties
Main grape varieties
- Grenache noir,
- Mourvèdre,
- Syrah
Secondary grape varieties
- Bourboulenc,
- Brun argenté (locally known as Camarèse or Vaccarèse),
- Carignan,
- Carignan blanc,
- Cinsault,
- Clairette,
- Clairette rose,
- Counoise,
- Floréal,
- Grenache blanc,
- Grenache gris,
- Marsanne,
- Muscardin,
- Piquepoul blanc,
- Piquepoul noir,
- Rolle (or Vermentino),
- Roussanne,
- Terret noir,
- Ugni blanc,
- Vidoc,
- Viognier
To know
History
The first written historical reference to Plan de Dieu (from Plan Dei, the Plain of God) links it to viticulture - a document dating back to 1326, detailing an agreement between the villagers of Camaret and Travaillan, and setting out the boundaries of their vineyards and pastureland. In the Middle Ages, winegrowing was overseen by the area’s various religious communities, and the vineyards underwent a period of major expansion.
In 2005, Plan de Dieu was awarded Côtes du Rhône Villages with geographical name status, applying to its red wines only.
Climate
Mediterranean type climate influenced by the Mistral wind.
Soils
The terroir is fairly uniform – a vast alluvial terrace formed by the Aigues and the Ouvèze Tributaries during the Riss Glacial Stage two or three hundred thousand years ago, overlaid with limestone pebbles from the Quaternary. The pebbles lie partly on Pliocene blue clay, partly on sandstone zaffre, supplying the vine roots with moisture to help ensure growth through the summer drought.
Geography
The appellation extends across the communes of Camaret-sur-Aigues, Jonquières, Travaillan and Violès in the Vaucluse département.
Varieties and flavours
Côtes du Rhône Villages Plan de Dieu AOC wines are made mainly from Grenache noir with Syrah and Mourvèdre. This combination yields wines with concentrated aromas and rich flavours of red berry fruit, spices and the scents of the Garrigue, which mellow over time to develop notes of leather, aniseed and liquorice.
Associated appellations
