The Ardèche river carves a narrow gorge through the limestone foothills of the Massif Central, it is on these steep slopes that vines have been planted since Roman times, it is here that Maison Louis Latour has planted Chardonnay for the first time. The Ardèche is a barren, rugged, region that is appreciated for its dramatic beauty and has a warm climate with a long hot growing season. These factors combined with the chalk-clay soils make it ideal for the production of high quality Chardonnay. Apart from the excellent wines of the region, the local town of Montélimar has become famous for its local delicacy, nougat. The region as a whole offers a wide variety of agricultural produce ranging from top-quality livestock to fresh fruits and vegetables.

Buying grapes from 180 different growers spread over 380 hectares or 920 acres permits us to select the ripest, highest quality fruit from the most well located vineyard plots for the production of Ardèche Chardonnay  and  Grand Ardèche.

Outside the small village of Alba-la-Romaine where an entire Roman town has been discovered, complete with amphitheatre, planned streets and a surprising number of wine bars, we have built a state of the art winery with gravity-fed presses, stainless steel vats, and computer controlled fermentation. Amid this up-to-the-minute technology, the wine making philosophy remains the same as that on the Côte d'Or in Burgundy: respect for the natural evolution and authenticity of the wine.

Innovation and tradition, the watchwords of Maison Louis Latour.