The soils in the Rhone Valley are the result of a geological collision between the Massif Central and the Alps, creating the valley. This region can be split into two sub-regions, Northern and Southern Rhône. Successive layers of fluvial and calcareous marine sediments formed reliefs and geological diversities in the Southern Rhône. The valley’s soils consists nowadays of four different types of rock: granite, sandy silica, limestone and clay. Here the bedrock plays a major role by allowing different access to water and nutrients depending on the soils compositions.

Montirius is a family estate covering the wine classification areas of Gigondas, Vacqueyras and Vaucluse. Christine and Eric Saurel took over the business in 1996, representing the fifth generation of winemakers. After meeting François Bouchet (a biodynamic wine maker from the Loire), they converted their 60 hectare farm to biodynamic in 1996. Six years later they invested in the building of a winery. The maturing is done exclusively in concrete vats without interior coating, and in bottles, to allow the full expression of the fruit. All the aspects of wine making process are done with the aim of improving the quality.