The 1,230 hectares of this wine-growing area’s vineyards are located exclusively in the village district of Gigondas in the department of Vaucluse. The village lies southeast of the wine-growing area of the Rhône Valley.
The natural boundaries of the appellation are the Dentelles de Montmirail to the east, the River Ouvèze to the west, the mountain stream of Trignon to the north, and the hills extending from the Dentelles to the south.
Pushed out of the sea 200 million years ago and subsequently eroded into sharp spikes, the Dentelles de Montmirail, which reach a height of 730 m at their highest point, create a landscape that is strongly marked by its unique geology.
These small mountains are the result of millions of years of accumulation of sediments (limestone and marl from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, and sand and sandstone from the Cenozoic era), followed by the work of powerful tectonic forces. Located on the Nîmes fault, the Dentelles were forced upright in the same processes that created the Pyrenees and the Alps. This specific mix of geology (a combination of events from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras) is very rare in the Rhône Valley. The resulting soil gives rise to a unique variety of terroirs that produce very complex wines.
Download a map of the Gigondas appellation
Download a 3D animation of the formation of the Dentelles of Montmirail