History

The Provençal language as melodious as it is poetic, uses the word "Amouriers" to mean mulberry bush.

The Domaine des Amouriers, located in Sarrians, takes its name from the mulberry bushes that bordered the property. According to the local mixed farming tradition, mulberry leaves were used for the cultivation of silkworms. The estate's first vines were planted in 1928, but the property began to expand in the 1950s under the leadership of Suzanne Hugues, who inherited the family land, and her husband Charles Chudzikiewicz.

Their son, Jocelyn, who had left school at 16 to help his parents on the still-mixed farm, decided to resume his studies. He passed his baccalaureate as an independent candidate and then moved to Toulouse to attend the Purpan School of Agricultural Engineering, where he graduated top of his class, earning a diploma in oenology. From the late 1970s onward, he devoted himself exclusively to cultivating vines.
A fervent advocate of terroir-driven wines, he became a member of the appellation's association and actively participated in the 1990 recognition of the Vacqueyras terroirs as a Rhône Valley cru.
With his academic background, rare for the time, Jocelyn sought to constantly improve the quality of his wines, drawing on his experience in the vineyard and winery, as well as his innovative spirit. He developed the plot-by-plot approach to winemaking and created a special cuvée for the best vintages. Always curious, he travelled the world and introduced his wines in Europe and Asia. Under his leadership, Domaine des Amouriers became a benchmark in Vacqueyras.

He tragically passed away in 1997 when his son Igor was only 15 years old. His long-time collaborators Patrick and Pascal Gras continued his work. Igor joined them in 2008 after training as an oenologist. Together, they continued to develop the estate and began a transition to organic viticulture. The estate has been certified organic since 2014.
In 2024, the Chudzikiewicz family wished to pass the torch and chose the Abeille-Fabre family (owners of Château Mont-Redon in Châteauneuf-du-Pape since 1923 and Domaine de l’Oratoire Saint-Martin in Cairanne since 2020) to ensure the estate's continuity. Our knowledge of the estate's terroirs and our reputation in the world of organic viticulture, acquired through the takeover of Oratoire Saint-Martin, were, for the Chudzikiewicz family, the guarantee of a transition faithful to the development of the estate's terroirs.

Terroir and Philosophy

Domaine des Amouriers is located in Sarrians on the exceptional terroir of ‘La grande terrasse des garrigues de l’étang’ the vast terrace of the scrubland of the pond*, composed of pebbles, limestone gravel and brown clay. At the foot of the spectacularly beautiful Dentelles de Montmirail and nestled in a tranquil environment, the 9-hectare vineyard, including 76 ares of white wine, is entirely cultivated using organic farming methods.

All the work carried out in the vineyard is to obtain the best possible fruit. We practice gentle pruning to respect sap flow, disbudding to control yields, leaves hand-stripping, and manually refined soil cultivation using a "picole" technique. Harvesting is done by hand in order to keep the integrity of the grape bunches and also to allow sorting by plot. In the cellar, we allow the grapes and the terroir to express themselves in a natural, low-intervention manner. Fermentation is carried out using indigenous yeasts.
We currently produce a single cuvée of red Vacqueyras from the estate's oldest vines, as well as a cuvée of white Vacqueyras. Our unadorned wines are the perfect expression of the balance between the depth and strength provided by the terroir and the delicacy and elegance we seek in the cellar through short, subtle macerations.

Red Vacqueyras Domaine Les Amouriers

The red Vacqueyras from Domaine Les Amouriers can be appreciated young for its
dominant intense black fruits and its scrubland notes. On the palate, the attack
is bright and focused on ripe red fruits. The tasting continues
revealing firm and noble tannins with a spicy finish.

White Vacqueyras Domaine des Amouriers

Our Vacqueyras Blanc can be enjoyed now for its floral and
fruity character. It is ideal for pairing with fresh goat cheese, langoustine carpaccio,
or poultry with morel mushrooms.

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