About Us : DOMAINE DE L'AURE - 30210 ST HILAIRE D'OZILHAN

The Domain de l’Aure, a family estate, is situated in Saint Hilaire d’Ozilhan.
This small village is found in the region of the southern Côtes du Rhône, on the right bank of the Rhône river about 4 km from the Pont du Gard, a 2,000 year-old Roman aqueduct.

This geographic situation enables us to take advantage of an exceptional climate for grape vines: dry and hot summers, temperate winters, but especially the mistral. This powerful wind airs out our vines, procuring a subtle character for our wines and helping us to practice reasoned agriculture.

That is why we insisted on showcasing this terrific asset by placing it in the name of our domain, the Aure means the wind in our local Occitan language.

The Terra Vitis process guarantees a high-quality means of production that respects the environment.

These wines are produced with grapes which come from production that qualifies as reasoned agriculture and using the Terra Vitis process with traceability of the growing practices verified by an independent

History

Michel Cruzel, owner of the domain, took over after his father in 1961. Since then, he has improved the estate with his family. From 25 acres in 1961, the domain comprises some 125 acres today with vineyards spread over 3 large areas enabling us to produce wines with great diversity :

- A strong red wine coming from an area of rolled stones
- A fruity red wine coming from an area made up of Loess/marl and angular rocks spread over a bank of calcareous clay.
- A rosé from Loess/marl
- A white wine from an area of angular rocks spread over a bank of calcareous clay
The estate has always been ahead of its time and Michel Cruzel is a pioneer in the region. As early as 1969, the newly planted vines were tied up and replanted with better grape varieties: Syrah and Grenache. At the end of the 80’s, we undertook reasoned agriculture and consequently limited our pest control treatments.

The practice of reasoned agriculture revealed our profound desire to produce quality wines while protecting the terroir and the environment.
During the construction of our wine cellar, an impact study was carried out to continue to respect and preserve the environment.

The building was built with traditional materials from the region:
- stone from the Gard, known for its robustness and its good insulation properties
- Roman tiles.
The thought given to insulation and energy savings, the integration of this traditional building in the landscape and the efforts made to use renewable energies brought us near the norms for High Environmental Quality.

As for the vinification equipment, it is state-of-the-art: stainless steel fermentation cellars, a stemmer on the harvesting machine …
The latest vinification techniques are used to bring out the best quality in our grapes and our terroirs.
The Domain de l’Aure is built on land laden with history. Precursors and pioneers in their time, the Romans started the planting of vineyards in France here near the Via Domitia (Roman road). They built the most famous aqueduct, the ‘Pont du Gard’, with local materials; the stone from the Gard. They invented Roman tiles.
The Romans and their history are a source of inspiration for us. The Domain de l’Aure fits into the continuity of producing great, modern wines while protecting the territory. That is to say, building a heritage in a healthy environment in order to hand it down to future generations.