Domaine des Accoles, located in the hills of the Ardèche, uses the traditional varietals of the region, Grenache, Carignan and Syrah and Burgundian methods to create crisp, pure and elegant wines.
The domaine was founded in 2011 by Olivier and Florence Leriche, who had previously spent 12 years running Domaine de l’Arlot in Nuits-Saint-Georges. They were responsible for ever finer wines during their tenure, and for converting the vineyards and cellar to biodynamic practice, but they dreamed of their own domaine. When an 18-hectare vine parcel became available in the Ardèche in 2010, they seized the opportunity.
The vineyards are a contiguous terraced unit, with limestone soils mixed with clay. They are planted with different varietals, on average fifty years old. They are farmed biodynamically.
Olivier has applied Burgundian methods to his vineyards, and is focussed on teasing out a sense of place in his vines. The freshness and balance in his wines comes not so much from the elevation, a few hundred metres above the plain, but rather because he picks far earlier than is the norm. In this way overripe fruit flavours do not mask the terroir. The wines are made largely using whole bunches and natural yeasts.
