Domaine Salel et Renaud

3.9/5See all 22 reviews

Founded in 2008 in the Ardèche Cévennes, the estate initially comprised 3 hectares of vineyards producing IGP Coteaux de l'Ardèche wine, with a garage serving as the winery... What a challenge and what a transformation! Today, the vineyard spans 11 hectares of terraced vines at altitudes between 300 and 500 meters, nestled amid remarkable landscapes shaped by past generations that Benoit and Élise wish to preserve for future generations.

An atypical and somewhat untamed vineyard, certain plots cannot be mechanized due to their steep slopes, so everything is worked by hand, much like certain vineyards in the Northern Rhône Valley.

Harvesting is exclusively manual to sort the grapes right in the vineyard. This high-altitude vineyard produces wines with beautiful freshness, great finesse, and a lot of elegance.

A meeting at university in the viticulture program made it clear to Benoît and Elise that they should create a winery. Through internships and training, their passion and expertise grew, eventually leading them to settle in the Ardèche a few years later.

As the grandchildren of Ardèche farmers, neither had previously been involved in agriculture nor owned any land of their own. Getting established wasn’t always easy, and it took a great deal of courage and ambition to get to where they are today. Grapevine removal, clearing, and planting—for these “cultivator-winemakers,” the challenge has now been met!

The iconic grape varieties of southern Ardèche, such as Viognier and Chatus, thrive alongside Gamay, Grenache, and Syrah, as well as Roussanne and Vermentino.

Élise and Benoit are now deeply in love with their vineyards and their work, and this is reflected in the character of their wines. Wines that are straightforward, generous, honest, and unpretentious—just like them. Their greatest pride is in introducing, through their wines, the wonderful terroirs of southern Ardèche, which are little known but hold their own when compared to the terroirs of the Northern Côtes du Rhône.

For more information, visit the website at Salel et Renaud

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