CROZES-HERMITAGE
Vineyard and terroir
The vineyard
Crozes-Hermitage, a multi-faceted terroir
The Crozes-Hermitage vineyard appears around a curve of the Rhône on the left bank, between Vienne and Valence. It spreads alongside the river and on the foothills landscapes.
Les Hauts de Mercurol estate manage a vineyard located on 2 distinct terroirs:
- A 9-hectare hillside, exposed to the South, 260m above the sea level, on a sandy and stony clay soil, which gives long-keeping red wines with a nice freshness and an atypical fruit from high-grounds lands.
- A second one mainly located on the Saviaux terroir, on the clay limestone terrace of the Châssis, near la Roche sur Glun. Here, the Syrah has a remarkable expression giving luscious and expressive wines.
GEOLOGY
The different terroirs of the estate
Soils from the Rhône high terraces, very ancient and stony: silty and sandy acidic soils on the surface, with more clay of many different colors beneath.
Soils from the ancient lower terraces with pebbles: deep soils of sediments from, very stony, decarbonated for over a meter deep, acidic sandy silt on the surface and sandy red clays deeper down.
MAP OF THE CROZES-HERMITAGE APPELLATION
The climate is rather temperate and the ever-blowing Mistral cleanse the vineyard and allow the grapes to reach their full maturity while keeping their acidity, essential to the balance of the great wines of the Northern Rhône Valley.
Follow the estate’s daily life !