Vinsobres

The Vinsobres AOC covers a production area of approximately 1,000 hectares, located exclusively within the municipality of Vinsobres, stretching 7 km along the hillsides in the Drôme department. The Vinsobres terroir consists of stony marl soils on the hillsides, sandy marl soils on the hillsides, and stony Quaternary alluvial soils on the terraces, and benefits from a Mediterranean climate, protected from the mistral and Alpine influences by the nearby hills.

Historically, the Vinsobres vineyard was of rather modest size (484 hectares in 1956). Following the frost of 1956, vineyards replaced olive groves and expanded considerably to reach their current area of 1,000 hectares.  Vinsobres was classified as Côtes-du-Rhône in 1937, then as Côtes-du-Rhône Vinsobres in 1957 (for all three wine types), and in 1966 it was among the first Côtes-du-Rhône Villages. Vinsobres obtained the local appellation in 2005 for red wine exclusively. The potential production area for this wine thus remains limited to approximately 450 hectares. Vinsobres wines are blends in which Grenache and Syrah are the two primary grape varieties. The quality of the Vinsobres wines offered by Maison Perrin et Fils is particularly noteworthy.