Domaine de la Solitude

Domaine de la Solitude belongs to one of the oldest families of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, whose roots go back to the 15th century. They are one of the first to bottle wine in the Rhône Valley, bottled as Vin de la Solitude (after their lieu-dit) in a time long before appellations. Today the Estate is managed by eighth generation vigneron, Florent Lançon. Ranking among the most prestigious domaines in the Rhône, Lançon is growing biodynamic, age-worthy, terroir wines based in careful farming and intelligent winemaking.

The Estate is divided into 33 parcels planted in 2 areas, 33 ha around the Estate and 4 ha to the north of the AOC with an additional 44 ha in the Côtes-du-Rhône. The Estate begins on the high terraces of the ‘La Crau’ plateau, descending into their eponymous lieu-dit, the ‘Vallée de La Solitude’ with its Safre soils of sandy-marl before rising again onto the lofty ‘Plateau du Boucoup’. This is the textbook Châteauneuf-du-Pape terroir of large heat collecting pudding stones cooled by the Mistral wind funnelled down through the Northern Rhône.

Lançon’s vision for regenerative farming has cast a new glow over this already long-hallowed Estate. In his words: “Our plots of wines have been cultivated for centuries, sometimes too harshly, but today they are part of a bigger picture. The idea of growing vines alone is a thing of the past. Today, our plots are bordered by olive and fruit trees, and bee hives and pastoralism are back to stay. Ever since, the earth of our Estate is nourished by this diversity and it enriches our wines.” Indeed the Solitude wines have long held the enduring respect of Rhône collectors, but in this new century the dynamism and delicacy of the wines has reached new heights.

HISTORY

The Domaine de la Solitude estate has one of the longest and richest histories in the Rhône. The Barberini family, who founded the Estate, traces their roots to the 13th century when their power abounded in Tuscany. It happened that the Barberinis became so powerful that by the 17th century Matteo Barberini was elected pope Urban VIII. 

He proceeded to appoint his family members to the most senior positions of the Curia (Cardinals, Prefect of Rome, etc.), greatly enriching the family while arousing the jealousy of other notable Roman families. When Pope Urban VIII died in 1644, these families forced the Barberini lineage to flee to Avignon in France.

From there, through marriage and a dowry, what we know of today as Domaine de la Solitude was born. The estate took its name from the La Solitude lieu-dit, which is where much of their vineyards are planted.

Domaine de la Solitude was one of the larger vineyards in the region by the mid to late 1800’s. At the time, the wine was produced and sold under the name of Vin de la Solitude.

In the 1970’s, Pierre Lançon and his two sons Michel and Jean grew the Estate, elevating the winemaking and adding the much revered Réserve and Barberini cuvées. In 2008 the domaine was transferred to Michel’s son Florent Lançon who converted to  biodynamic farming and has crusaded for the end of mono-cropping and a return to gentle farming. In the cellars, the house style is minimalist, only partially destemming their fruit, allowing MLF to occur, and vinifying each parcel and grape variety separately. Depending on the grape, Domaine de la Solitude will ferment in concrete vats, stainless steel tanks, or resin vats. On average, up to 10% of the wines can be aged in a portion of new, French oak barrels. The results speak for themselves.