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Domaine Pierre Gaillard, Rhône“Terroirs” with great individuality...
The area enjoys a temperate, continental climate, with warm, dry, summers which help to restrain the vigorous growth of the vines – this is absolutely essential for the production of grapes with high quality potential.
The « Clos de Cuminaille » parcel Some plots of land are at high altitude. They enjoy a very specific climate, colder, which brings an aromatic freshness and vivacity to the white wines they produce. Planted on the last foothills of the Massif Central, the vines look out over the Rhône, as it flows southwards. Their outlook, combined with the steepness of the hillsides, allows optimal exposure to sunlight.
Precipitous slops are terraced, the soil being held in place by dry-stone walls. These are able to store up the heat of the day and to release it at night, which helps to warm up still further the environment in which the vines live. In Côte-Rôtie, the soil is made up of deteriorated schists and of weathered granite in St. Joseph, Condrieu and Côte-du-Rhône. The Syrah, Viognier and Roussanne varieties are cultivated on these soils, which - light, permeable and warm - naturally limit the vigour of their growth.
Terraces – Dry-stone walls The rocky outcrops on some of the plots show that platforms of schists and granite lie beneath. The vine is thus forced to put roots into irregularities on the surface of the bedrock and to draw directly from there the nutrition necessary for its growth.
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