Gigondas
Gigondas is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. As of 2023, the population of the commune was 448.
Geography
Gigondas represents the main gateway to the west of the Dentelles de Montmirail, which are located in its territory, and is therefore a sought-after stopover town for climbing and hiking enthusiasts.Transportation access
The village is located 15 km south of Vaison-la-Romaine, 15 km east of Orange, and 12 km northeast of Carpentras.Departmental roads 7, 8, 79, and 80 pass through the commune, but only the last two approach the village entrance.
Geology and paleontology
Eugène Raspail, in a work dedicated to his uncle François-Vincent, provided a still relevant description of the Gigondas terroir within the Dentelles de Montmirail:The communal part located outside the Dentelles is essentially composed of a detrital substrate constituting the foothills of the massif and of Quaternary alluvium carried by the
Ouvèze.
In the same work, he describes Neustosaurus gigondarum, a marine reptile that lived during the Early Cretaceous period, approximately 140 to 136 million years ago. It belongs to the order Crocodylomorpha, and its fossil remains were found in the Dentelles de Montmirail mountain range in the commune of Gigondas. This carnivorous marine lizard from the Valanginian age was discovered in 1842. The name Neustosaurus, given to it by its discoverer, Eugène Raspail, means "swimming lizard" and is derived from the Ancient Greek words neustos and sauros. Only one species has been described, and only its posterior part, which is the only part that has been found. This fossil was assigned to the Metriorhynchidae, a group of reptiles related to marine crocodiles. In 2009, Young and Andrade, in a new study on Geosaurus and the validity of species grouped in this genus, concluded that Neustosaurus would be the older synonym of Cricosaurus.
Seismicity
The cantons of Bonnieux, Apt, Cadenet, Cavaillon, and Pertuis are classified as Zone Ib. All other cantons in the Vaucluse department are classified as Zone Ia. This zoning corresponds to seismic activity that only exceptionally results in the destruction of buildings.Hydrography
The town is watered by the Trignon river.Climate
In 2010, the town's climate was classified as a true Mediterranean climate, according to a study by the French National Centre for Scientific Research based on data covering the period 1971-2000. In 2020, Météo-France published a typology of metropolitan France's climates, placing the town in a transition zone between mountain and Mediterranean climates, specifically within the Provence-Languedoc-Roussillon climate region. This region is characterized by low rainfall in summer, abundant sunshine, hot summers, very dry air in summer and dry conditions year-round, strong winds, and little fog.For the period 1971-2000, the average annual temperature was 13.3°C, with an annual temperature range of 16.5°C. The average annual rainfall is 681 mm, with 6.3 days of precipitation in January and 2.6 days in July. For the period 1991-2020, the average annual temperature observed at the nearest Météo-France weather station, "Beaumont-Mt Serein," located in the municipality of Beaumont-du-Ventoux, 13 km away as the crow flies, is 7.0 °C, and the average annual rainfall is 1,317.0 mm. The maximum temperature recorded at this station is 33.4 °C, reached on June 28, 2019; the minimum temperature is -18 °C, reached on February 5, 2012.
The commune's climate parameters were estimated for the middle of the century according to different greenhouse gas emission scenarios based on the new DRIAS-2020 reference climate projections. They can be viewed on a dedicated website published by Météo-France in November 2022.
Commune planning
Typology
As of January 1, 2024, Gigondas is categorized as a rural commune with dispersed housing, according to the new seven-level municipal density grid defined by INSEE in 2022. It is located outside urban units and outside the influence of cities.Land use
Land cover in Gigondas, as shown in the European biophysical land cover database Corine Land Cover, is characterized by the significant presence of agricultural land, a proportion roughly equivalent to that of 1990. The detailed breakdown in 2018 is as follows: permanent crops, forests, shrub and/or herbaceous vegetation, heterogeneous agricultural areas, and open spaces with little or no vegetation. Changes in land cover and infrastructure within the commune can be observed on various maps of the territory: the Cassini map, the General Staff map, and IGN maps and aerial photographs for the current period.History
Antiquity
While Roman colonization was indeed present in Gigondas, as evidenced by excavations or the accidental unearthing by plowing of lead cremation tombs, tear urns, statuettes, lamps, flat tiles, etc., archaeological remains relating to vines or wine are rare. Only a head of Bacchus was discovered, in 1866, by Eugène Raspail, the nephew of François-Vincent Raspail, on the grounds of his Château Raspail.Middle Ages
Around 1120, Rostang III, Bishop of Vaison, gave to his cathedral church a manor which included a vineyard located in Gigondas near the Ouvèze river. He did so in these terms :This is the oldest document confirming the existence of a vineyard on this land.
We must wait until the 14th century to learn about the evolution of this vineyard, a fief of the Princes of Orange. One of them, Raymond V des Baux, in July 1341, while reserving for himself the rights of high and low justice, granted the inhabitants of Gigondas certain liberties in exchange for a twenty-year tax on the wine from this land.
In 1376, at the place called Les Bosquets, notarial records indicate the existence of vinea culta ; then, those of the notaries of Oussan, in a document dated 1380, mention vines that covered a territory extending from the chapel of Notre-Dame des Pallières down to the Ouvèze River.
Renaissance
Throughout the 15th century, the same records indicate that the vineyard then extended from "Les Garrigues" to "Le Trignon," passing through "La Beaumette" and "La Coste de Saint-Cosme."In the following century, the Community drafted its statutes and approved them on November 14, 1591. Article 45, entitled "Of those who sell wine wholesale, that they sell it to other inhabitants", precisely outlines the conditions of this trade:
The following year, this article was republished, this time explicitly mentioning white wine. It is one of the few texts that refers to this type of wine in the Gigondas region.
Modern era
On August 12, 1793, the department of Vaucluse was created, consisting of the districts of Avignon and Carpentras, but also those of Apt and Orange, which belonged to Bouches-du-Rhône, as well as the canton of Sault, which belonged to Basses-Alpes.Even though Jean-Joseph Expilly noted that the commune was "fertile in wine," the 18th century marked a significant shift in agricultural practices. More and more inhabitants abandoned vineyards to cultivate olive and mulberry trees. This did not, however, prevent the proclamation of a ban on the grape harvest throughout the commune. A municipal decree dated 1771 stipulated that anyone violating this prohibition would be subject to a fine of five livres.
It was the Raspail family, and more specifically Eugène, who retired from politics to Gigondas, who revived viticulture there. In 1861, he acquired the Bosquets estate, improved the existing 37 hectares, planted nine more the following year, and then another 26 hectares in subsequent years. Through his father's inheritance, he received the Colombier estate, which he transformed into Château Raspail while also developing its vineyards.
By 1864, the production from his estates was so substantial that he was able to ship it, via the port of Roquemaure on the Rhône, to merchants in Valence, Lyon, Saint-Étienne, and Paris, who had purchased it from him at 16.50 francs per hectoliter. These results were significant enough that, despite his republican leanings, and with the approval of Napoleon III, he received a commendation for his winemaking efforts. Proud of his results, the learned winemaker was able to note:
He was then able to devote himself to his passions: archaeology, geology, and paleontology. As the wines from his vineyards sold increasingly well, he observed:
The enthusiasm he managed to generate even led to the first bottling operations. But the arrival of phylloxera and the devastation of the vineyards in the early 1870s brought these efforts to nothing.
The Gigondas Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée was established in the late 1960s.
Name
The oldest documented spelling is Jocundatis, dated 951. It derives from the Latin word Jucundus to which the suffix -atis was added.In Provençal, the town is called Gigoundas.
Heraldry
Economy
Agriculture
Agriculture, particularly wine production, is the most important sector of the local economy. Olive groves and other fruit trees complement the region's agricultural output.Gigondas AOC is one of the six local appellations of the Southern Rhône. In 1924, wine sales peaked at 4,784 hectoliters; this rose to 25,887 hectoliters in 1967, and currently stands at 40,000 hectoliters.