Historical Facts
1925 • First harvest of Syrah at the domain by Benoit CHIRAT, grandfather of Gilbert.
1948 • Georges joins his father on the estate, they work together until 1970.
1980 • First plantation of Condrieu below the church of St. Michel.
1984 • Installation of Gilbert.
1985 • First vinification of CONDRIEU.
1990 to 2000 • Stoppage of all fruit production in favour of vines with the plantation of CONDRIEU, SYRAH and VIOGNIER.
2001 • First vinification of VDP VIOGNIER. Construction of the new cellar.
2007 • First vinification of RED SAINT JOSEPH.
2012 • Installation of Aurélien Chirat, young agriculturist. First vinification of WHITE SAINT JOSEPH.
2013 • Creation of a cuvée : CONDRIEU CLOS PONCINS.
2014 • Extension of the Cellar and first vinification of COTE ROTIE from Cote Rozier.
2016 • 1/3 of the domain is now worked in 0 weedkiller.
2017 • A new cuvée call SOLISTE of Saint Joseph rouge is born from the south of the Appelation.
2019 • The estate obtains the HVE3 High Environmental Value Label, proof of our commitment to sustainable viticulture.
70% of the estate is worked with 0 chemical weed killers, 30% of the estate is suitable for the production method: agriculture biology.
2020 • A plot selection named Lieu-Dit La Cote in Saint Joseph rouge will the "Les Cotes"
and a plot selection named CONDRIEU Lieu-Dit "Sous L’église" will complete the CONDRIEU range.
The Vineyard
Located in the north of the Rhone Valley, 50km south of Lyon, in the village of St. Michel sur Rhone. Our vines are situated on impressive terraces on steep slopes, consequence of the passage of a millenary river : Le Rhône.
Our vines are on the right bank of this river with an exposition south-east, on a good geological uniformity with a granite dominance.
On this steep part of the Rhone Valley, the first traces of vine leaves go back to well before the conquest of Gaul by the Romans.
Vienne was already famous for its wines from the second century B.C.
Our method of work in the vines is simple: we wish to produce the best possible grapes.
We practise a reasoned viticulture based on the observation of the different stages of the vine :
«The right action at the right moment».
All the work on the vine which is indispensable for the quality of the grapes is put into use, thinning out of the leaves, no weeding out.
The vines situated on the hillsides (the wines of appellation of protected origin) have a plantation density of about 7500 plants per hectare, the aim being to reduce the vigour of the plants. The vine-stocks then produce fewer bunches with quality grapes, more concentrated and richer in aromas.
The vines planted wide and on the upper parts of the slopes (Vin de Pays) with only 5500 plants per hectare have no weeding out, which regulates the vigour, limits erosion and the use of chemical weed-killers.
Since 2019, the HVE certified domain demonstrates our commitment to clean viticulture.
The Cellar
For all the wines : Manual grape gathering, meticulous selection of the grapes. No yeasting during the fermentation are add.
For the «CONDRIEU» and «White ST-JOSEPH» : Skin maceration, pressing, debourbage under cold conditions, alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in barrels, maturation for one year.
For the «White Vins de Pays» : Pressing, debourbage under cold conditions, alcoholic and malolactic fermentation only in the vat.
For the red wines for keeping : «ST-JOSEPH» «CÔTE RÔTIE» and «SYRAH OR PISTE» : Grapes picked totally by hand, destem of not depend the year, alcoholic fermentation in open vats for three weeks with regular pigeages and remontages, pressing, and maturation in barrels for one year for the ST JOSEPH and Or Piste and 20 months for the CÔTE RÔTIE.
For the reds of medium and short keeping: «Les Chirats» : Grapes totally picked off the stalk, alcoholic fermentation in open vats for 10 days weeks with regular remontages, pressing and maturation in stainless steel vats.
All our bottles are corked with best quality natural cork.
The new barrels we use for come exclusively from French oak with Saury and Allary and center of Europe for STOCKING.
Our barrel-makers are SAURY ALLARY and STOCKINGER. For the 2019 Harvest, we acquired 2 25HL lightnings from VARDA & STOCKINGER in Austria, the flagships of the worldwide lightning strike.
The cellar has a system of temperature regulation, in order to reduce as much as possible any variations in the temperature, harmful for the wine.
In 2014 the construction of a new cuverie and a new store-house will allow us to vinify under the best conditions the plots of land starting production.