Domaine Baulieu

About Winery and Wines

For over two thousand years the Beaulieu vineyard has flourished within the crater of the only volcano in Provence. The estate, created a fiefdom by King Henry III of France in 1576, belonged to several great Provence families and this family tradition continues to this day. The eight-hectare walled vineyard that yields Villa Beaulieu grapes is a unique terroir facing the north-east at an altitude of 400 metres and comprising soil of clay and limestone on lava basalt. The geographical location and the pedological aspects of the Villa Beaulieu vineyard allow us to produce exceptional wines.

At an altitude of 400m the range of day and night temperatures are ideal for the production of both red and white vins de garde. The estate, set within an extinct volcanic crater, consists of diverse soils meaning that the cultivars can be grown on their terroir of choice. The terroir of the production area is made up of basalt, limestone or a mixture of the two. All of the plots selected, covering eight hectares facing the north-east, overlook the Durance river and face Lubéron and Sainte Victoire. It is a small vineyard and day-to-day work is carried out carefully and meticulously from production through to sale. Like most of the appellation, our culture is similar to our national culture. It gives our wines a unique flavour and signature. Production consists of 50% red wine and 50% white wine. The crop is harvested manually when it reaches phenolic maturity and is transported in 10kg boxes. Several visits to the same plot may be required to ensure that only those grapes at optimum maturity are picked. Upon arrival at the cellar, the harvest is destemmed (for red), sorted and decanted into vats using 150-kg trucks to maintain the quality of the raw material and prevent any churning caused by pumping.