From motor racing and lime production to making red wine in the Rhone valley, Vincent Moreau is clearly a man with a vision. At the age of 37, after selling his successful family business, Vincent headed back to school to retrain as a vigneron. Within 18 years he has gone on to own one of the largest private estates in the Cotes du Rhône, Chateau de Ruth, and is lending his vision to revitalising this ancient estate in a new village appellation.

Ancient roots, new vision: Chateau du Ruth

“This is one of the oldest sites in the region — it was founded over 2,000 years ago as a Roman settlement and has been a registered estate since 1561,” explained Vincent, as we looked over some of the ancient maps hanging in his winery office. “There are records of vineyards being cultivated here since 1680.”

The property might have a lot of history, but it was in a state of disrepair when Vincent bought it in 2010. “Out of the 110 hectares, I’ve replanted 90 hectares already — of course by small amounts each time,” explains Vincent, who also added Syrah and Marselan to the Grenache-dominant estate. “I’ve maintained some of the old goblet vines for our top cuvee though.”

Another significant investment in the chateau was bringing the winemaking technology up to date with temperature controls in each tank, although Vincent is keen to keep the winemaking traditional. He says his focus is on making highly drinkable wines. Highly drinkable is what Chateau de Ruth’s wines certainly achieve: rich but supple red wines with a juicy balance of fruit, spice and freshness.

The terroir of Sainte Cécile

In the Sainte Cécile cuvée, you really get a taste of what is making this appellation now come to the fore. “We have a terroir which has a lot of pebbles and it is part of the plateau,” explains Vincent. “So the terroir is a bit dry which gives quite powerful wines but they always have this nice black fruit with supple tannins and deep colour — and they are ultimately drinkable.”

Although the Sainte Cécile cuvée is the most powerful of them all, the black fruit and supple vein carries through to the other Cote des Rhone village wines — including a fantastically affordable blend made for The Co-Op in the UK, retailing at just £10.

As Vincent explains in this video from the vineyard below, Sainte Cécile has clearly been at the heart of Southern Rhone wines for centuries and it’s exciting to see this appellation now gain some recognition not only for its great value and great history, but making ultimately drinkable and succulent Rhône wines.

Video interview with Vincent Moreau at Chateau de Ruth