Domaine des Escaravailles: At the Pinnacle of Rasteau
This week, we’re heading up to the hills of Rasteau in the Rhône Valley to explore the Domaine des Escaravailles. Gilles Ferran tells us how his family conquered this challenging site to turn it into the estate bearing the scarab beetle emblem (escaravay in Occitan).
Domaine des Escaravailles: A Family History in Rasteau
My father handed the reins over to me in 1999, but I had already been working with him and my uncle on the estate for about ten years. It was my paternal grandfather who founded the estate. In 1953, he was the manager of a vast estate covering over a thousand hectares. He had promised his boss that he would buy up any land in the region suitable for growing grapes. So my grandfather heard about this property and, after visiting it, brought his boss there. When the boss arrived and saw this place in the hills above Rasteau—with a crumbling sheepfold, no vines, no water, and no electricity—he immediately replied, “What a mess…!” Yet, from the very beginning, my grandfather was convinced of its potential. Since his boss wasn’t interested, he bought the property on his own.
While continuing to work as a steward, he began working on the estate. His two sons (my father and my uncle) soon joined him to continue clearing the land and begin planting vines. Today, we own 40 hectares, almost all in one contiguous block.
Domaine des Escaravailles, La Ponce vintage
I grew up in the region and have wonderful memories of it. I spent a lot of time with my maternal grandfather in Cairanne: picking cherries and olives, and sometimes even hunting for truffles along the edges of the vineyards… It was a wonderful childhood… Today, we’ve also taken over the operation of his estate in Cairanne. So we’re lucky enough to indulge ourselves and produce a whole range of different wines: reds, whites, a little rosé, and of course Vins Doux Naturels! Our selection can thus pair with a wide variety of cuisines. Try, for example, the Rasteau “La Ponce” with a dish of Pre-Alpine lamb! That’s what we love most about wine: sharing the joy.
Our Estate's Favorite Cuvées:
The new project by Gilles Ferran, winemaker at Domaine des Escaravailles: The creation of a retail wine shop
This location at the highest point of the village allows us to bring a touch of freshness to our wines, which balances out the characteristic ripeness of Rasteau. Our vineyards are situated at an altitude of between 250 and 320 meters, so we experience slightly cooler nights and slightly later ripening than the rest of the vineyard. I am also fortunate to be assisted by a very good friend, Philippe Cambie, a renowned oenologist from the Southern Rhône whom I met in school. His expertise allows us to craft the red wines we love: rich and fruit-driven, yet always elegant and fresh.
The project we’ve been working on at the estate for about five years is also nearing completion: the creation of a direct-sales wine shop along the entrance road to Vaison-la-Romaine, which I expect to open sometime in May. This will bring us closer to potential wine lovers, and we’ll also have more space, including a storage cellar. We’ll therefore be able to age our wines for a few years before putting them on sale, ready to drink!
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