Walking our vineyards is like taking a trip through the geological history of our appellation.
In the north of the appellation, Brousson has two types of younger terroir (from the quaternary - 1 million years ago) whose commonality is the “galets roulés” of the Rhône Valley:
The first terroir of “galets” sits atop an iron-rich red clay. It's warm and earlier-ripening due to its stones’ ability to radiate the solar heat. Below, the iron-rich clay stores the rainfall, nourishing the vine during hot, dry summers with water and minerals. It gives powerful red wines with aromas of very ripe red fruits and garrigue scents and soft spices. Fully mature tannins give longevity to these beautiful wines.
The second terroir has the same two layers, but they are covered by a thin blanket of a loess (wind-blown silt). It is very suitable for white varieties and gives great results in Syrah, because it provides regular access to water to the vines and an interesting freshness to the wines.
Our southern Bek vineyards are located on what geologists call "the flexure of Vauvert." Due to tectonic movements, sedimentary layers from as far back as 23 million years ago were lifted upward. The commonality of our three types of terroir here is a “layer cake” base that alternates between chalk (fine “flour textured” powder made from ancient seashells) and “safres” (fine yellow sands).
On the higher-elevation vineyards this base of chalk and “safres” layers sits below a layer of red sandstone (iron-rich clay and sand) that is topped by “cailloutis” (pebbles from the ancient Durance River). Here, the vineyards are rarely thirsty and they give focused and racy reds, with aromas of fresh red fruit, with beautiful concentration.
A bit lower, the base of chalk and “safres” layers is closer to the surface and it’s topped with a layer of loam (a mix of sand, clay and sediments). The texture of this layer is highly irregular with zones have a higher percentage of sand and others with higher percentage of clay. Here there are few rocks, and the mineral-rich subsoil offers exceptional drainage, important water reserves for the vines and a very high pH (8-8.4). These vineyards give wines with freshness, dynamism and a certain salinity in the finish.
At the lowest point of our vineyards, the alluvium matter that sits above our bed of chalk and “safres” layers is sandy clay. Richer in nutrients, and with more limestone, here is where we planted our white varietals. With surprising minerality and freshness, the terroir here reinforces the maritime microclimate and gives our Rhone grapes a very original mark.
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