When Gabriel d'Ardhuy, owner of the celebrated Burgundy estate Domaine d'Ardhuy, purchased a largely abandoned hillside property in Mondragon in 1981, he entrusted it to one of his seven daughters. Marie-Pierre Plumet d'Ardhuy took that inheritance seriously. She rebuilt the estate from roughly 10 hectares, planted 20 more, and, when her husband Eric joined her in 1986, began a decades-long investigation into whether the southern Rhône could be farmed the way Burgundy's greatest estates had begun to farm: biodynamically, without compromise, and with a long view.
Backstory
The Plumets made their first bottling in 1987 and converted the estate to biodynamic agriculture over the following decade. In 2007 they received Demeter certification, making La Cabotte the first estate on the Massif d'Uchaux to hold it and one of only a handful in the Vaucluse. Eric has since become a certified biodynamic trainer, leading sessions for other producers, and the two have assembled a network of 30 winemakers who make their own preparations together. In 2017 they added 12 hectares of stony hillside vineyards, bringing the total estate to 38 hectares. A Châteauneuf-du-Pape parcel of 1.5 hectares was added in 2005.
The Region
La Cabotte sits on the Massif d'Uchaux plateau in the commune of Mondragon, roughly halfway between Orange and Bollène in the northern Vaucluse. At 165 metres elevation, the estate sits higher than most southern Rhône vineyards, a factor that preserves natural acidity and produces wines with more freshness and lift than the valley floor can offer. The soils here are geologically unusual: red sandstone and silico-limestone, the only terroir in the Rhône Valley without elements from the Tertiary era, giving the wines a distinctive mineral austerity. The property takes its name from the small stone shelters traditional vignerons built at the ends of rows for tools and rest.
Vineyards and Farming
The 38 hectares span multiple appellations, including Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes-du-Rhône Massif d'Uchaux, and Côtes-du-Rhône. Marie-Pierre and Eric grow Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, and Carignan among the reds, and Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Roussanne, and Viognier among the whites. The lunar calendar guides all vineyard treatments. Yields are kept deliberately low through aggressive winter pruning, de-budding in spring, and a green harvest in summer. Geobiological principles are also applied, with stones placed throughout the estate to optimise energy flow.
Winemaking
Grapes are rigorously sorted before de-stemming. Fermentation proceeds by "pied de cuve," a natural starter culture made from the estate's own wild yeasts, with twice-daily pump-overs and a post-fermentation maceration of six to seven days to soften tannins. Transfers through the cellar are made entirely by gravity, without pumping. Some wines are aged in clay jars for gentle micro-oxygenation. Bottling takes place before the heat of summer to preserve freshness.
The Wines
The range includes the everyday Colline in red, white, and rosé; the Garance from older low-yielding vines; the Sauvageonne; and at the top, the Vieilles Vignes Châteauneuf-du-Pape. A cuvée called Gabriel honours the estate's founder. Each wine carries the sandstone-mineral character of the Massif d'Uchaux plateau, structured by elevation and shaped by the discipline of biodynamic farming across four decades.