Allan, the municipality in which Château Bizard is located, has enjoyed a renowned winegrowing reputation since the 17th century.
This municipality is located in the southern part of the Rhône Valley.
The terroir is like no other, with a subsoil made of limestone scree on blue marls.
Natural factors such as that famous “Mistral” wind from the North of the Rhône Valley and generous amounts of sunshine allow for high-quality wine production.
Terroirs can take on a tyrannical nature.
The vineyard is characterised by all natural elements: subsoil and soil nature, exposure, climate, topography and human factors.
What makes a good terroir is its water balance, generally in shortage.
The type of soil induces its characteristics, but appropriate terroir must correspond to the appropriate grape varieties' rootstocks.
The terroir of Château Bizard allows the production of round, powerful and aromatic wines.
The Grignan-les-Adhémar Appellation
Along the Rhône and located in the South of Donzère, remain the ruins of the Villa du Molard, dated between 50 and 80 AD. They indicate that the largest vineyard in Antiquity was located near Château Bizard.
Yet in the second half of the 19th century, phylloxera – a scourge for vines – destroyed two thirds of the French vineyard. It took nearly 30 years for new plantations to reappear in the area, with the introduction of rootstocks from American plants. Wine production in the Rhône Valley did not return to normal until the 1900s.
In Drôme provençale, the Grignan-les-Adhémar appellation is one of the AOCs of the Rhône-Valley vineyard. The terroir extends across the South of Montélimar to the foothills of the Tricastin Valley, between Piémont Cévenol (Gard and Ardèche) and Nyonsais-Baronnies (Drôme - Vaucluse). This Grignan-les-Adhémar appellation dates from 2010 and replaces the old Côtes du Rhône and Coteaux du Tricastin appellations.
The climate is described as meso-Mediterranean with a significant strengthening of the Mistral wind and strong drought in summer. Depending on the plantations, the terroir is made of hard limestone, clay, pebbles and sand. Some of the authorised grape varieties are Syrah, Black Grenache, Carignan, Cinsault, Marsanne, Viognier, Roussanne, and White Grenache.
The wines of Grignan-les-Adhémar are characterised by the intensity of their aromas but also by their elegance, roundness, powerful taste, and sustained colour. These complex wines marked by a tannic structure benefit from specificities which differentiate them from the other appellations of both the southern and northern Rhône Valley.
The Grignan-les-Adhémar vineyard covers no fewer than 1,316 hectares. The production of over 6 million bottles is split on three colours: Red 67% - Rosé 14% - White 19%. They make up about 23 % of the export sales.
