La Perdrix
la Perdrix
Vianney Castan's La Perdrix is a sustainably farmed estate in Bellegarde, Costières de Nîmes, planted to Grenache and Syrah on ancient cobblestone terraces between Nîmes and Arles.
Winemaker, Arnaud Bladinières
The estate name is a nod to its history. In the 13th century, King Louis IX hunted partridge (perdrix) on the grounds. Vianney Castan is several centuries removed, and his connection to this land took some time to find. His family had been making wine since 1907, his great-great-grandfather taking medals at the Exposition Internationale de Montpellier in 1927. A freeze in 1956 destroyed his grandparents' vines, and the land was sold in the 1970s. But the dream was reborn in Vianney who started from scratch in 2007 with his wife Émilie. La Perdrix in Bellegarde is just another manifestation of that dream.
Farming and winemaking
Vianney farms sustainably and harvests by hand in small cases — a choice that limits oxidation and bruising from the moment fruit leaves the vine. Varieties are fermented separately before blending, and the Rosé ages for six months in stainless steel.
Vineyard
Galets from the La Perdrix Vineyard
The estate sits on ancient river terraces between Nîmes and Arles — rounded galets (stones) carried down over millennia by the Rhône and Durance, over well-drained subsoil that forces roots deep. The stones hold heat through the day and release it at night, driving steady, even ripening. It's the same geology as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, 60 kilometers north. The vines are old, and Château Saint-Louis — the property's formal name — has been producing wine on this ground long before Vianney arrived.
