Domaine Terrasses d’Eole Ventoux Rouge, 2019

The Domaine Terrasses d'Éole is located in the heart of Provence, at the bottom of Mount Ventoux, in the small town of Mazan. The property offers an exceptional view of Mount Ventoux, home to one of the most famous stages of the Tour de France.

This area is exposed to the Mistral or severe winds that pass through the Southern Rhône. The domaine's name is taken from Éole, the French name for the Greek god of wind, Aeolus.

Stephane Saurel's head turned sideways.
Stephane Saurel, who runs the Domaine Terrasses d'Éole winery with his father, Claude.
For years, Claude Saurel sold his grapes to the local cooperative. But in the middle of the 1990s, his son Stephane expressed interest in making wine. By 1997, they were making big plans.

They would leave the cooperative and set out on their own. In November of 1998, they broke ground on a new vinification chai. It remained a father and son project and, over the following ten months, they alone removed 120 tons of earth, and used 10,000 cinder blocks and 25 tons of cement to complete the winery. In fact, the vinification tanks were put in place in September, only a few days before the harvest began.

Their hard work has paid off. Claude and Stephane now have a modern winery built into a hillside that allows them to work by gravity and avoid excessive pumping that can often damage a wine.

Claude now tends to the forty-plus vineyard parcels they own. The vines are planted on different soils: sand-based, stone-based, chalk and limestone-based. As Stephane says, "Richness is born from diversity."