Vinsobres

The Vinsobres appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) covers a production area of around 1,000 hectares, exclusively in the commune of Vinsobres, stretching 7 km along the hillsides in the Drôme department. The Vinsobres terroir is based on stony marl soils on hillsides, sandy marl on hillsides, and stony Quaternary alluvial deposits on terraces, and benefits from a Mediterranean climate, protected from the mistral wind and Alpine influences by the nearby mountains.

Historically, the Vinsobres vineyard was rather modest in size (484 hectares in 1956). After the frost of 1956, vines replaced olive trees and expanded considerably to reach their current area of 1,000 hectares.  Vinsobres was classified as Côtes-du-Rhône in 1937, then Côtes-du-Rhône Vinsobres in 1957 (for all three colors), and in 1966 it became one of the first Côtes-du-Rhône Villages. Vinsobres obtained its local appellation in 2005, exclusively for red wine. The potential production area for the vintage remains limited to around 450 hectares. Vinsobres wines are blends, with Grenache and Syrah as the two main grape varieties. The quality of the Vinsobres wines produced by Maison Perrin et Fils is particularly noteworthy.