France | Rhône Valley | Domaine Richaud

Domaine Richaud

Wines

Rhône Valley

Domaine Richaud Buiblle
Domaine Richaud Terre de Galets Côtes du Rhone

Domaine Richaud is widely considered to be the finest producer in the appellation Cairanne and has elevated this village to one of the best terroirs in the Côtes-du-Rhône. Marcel Richaud, fifth generation grower, founded the estate in 1974 after making the decision from an early age to become an independent producer, estate bottling his wines rather than selling to the co-op. Marcel was just 19 when he began farming his aunt’s vines and slowly created a following for his wines.

When his father retired, it allowed Marcel to take over more of the family property and save up a bit of money to reinvest; he built a proper, underground cellar and purchased some exceptional parcels, high up in the hills above the village of Cairanne. Eventually these old vine parcels became his flagship wine, L’Ebrescade. Richaud was an early proponent of low intervention winemaking. He understood that respecting and improving work in the vineyard was most important. While Marcel was making low intervention wines before the Natural Wine movement existed, he has never been dogmatic in his approach. He understands that the same winemaking cannot be applied year after year and the winemaker must adapt to the conditions of nature.