St-Gervais

One of the leading Côtes du Rhône Villages, awarded this status in 1974, and certainly one of the smallest (only around 70ha although Saint-Pantaléon-les-Vignes beats this with just 21ha of vines!), St-Gervais is in the northern Gard département, on the right bank of the Rhône. Practically in the Ardèche, as soon as you leave the village, heading for its one truly great estate, it's a long and winding road, high in the hills to get there.

This is great terroir, favouring Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre equally it seems, certainly if the wines of Domaine Ste-Anne are anything to go by; Viognier also thrives, alongside Roussanne and Marsanne. There is a vibrancy about the spicy, generous reds which make up around 85% of the village's wines, the rest being white (no rosé here!) which have more floral characteristics.