Marcel RICHAUD

The great Marcel Richaud needs no introduction! Partly responsible for the revival of the Cairanne appellation (north-west of Orange), many are indebted to him for the change from 'Cairanne' to 'Cru' in 2015!

Precursor of natural wine in the Rhone Valley

Marcel asks himself questions with a single objective: to respect the grapes and this beautiful terroir of Cairanne. The story of Winery Marcel Richaud, located in the Rhône Valley, began at the end of the 1960s. The grapes went straight to the Cairanne cooperative cellar. When the young Marcel took over the family Winery in 1974 at the age of 17, he had the firm intention of freeing himself from the cooperative and selling in bottles. Always on the lookout, Marcel Richaud wanted to take more risks and in 1987, with the acquisition of 3 hectares on the very beautiful "Ebrescade" climate, his natural wines began to make a name for themselves. Indeed, he met influential people such as Marcel Lapierre in Morgon, but also Yann Rohel.

The organic wines of Marcel Richaud 

All the wines of Winery Marcel Richaud are certified organic. The raw material is respected from beginning to end, it is the basis of everything for Marcel: the grapes are harvested by a team of 30 people with grapes of maximum maturity, the sorting is severe to obtain an average yield of 35 ha/hl.

The grapes are picked at specific times in different containers depending on whether they are morning or afternoon grapes. These are placed in a cold room to slow down the fermentation process. Fermentations start with only the indigenous yeasts of the grapes and are very carefully monitored to be slow. They end in vats or in demi-muids depending on the cuvée. When the wines are stabilised, there is no fining or filtering and a small adjustment of sulphur (around 15mg of total S02). Marcel is constantly thinking about the soil, the pruning of the vines, the vinification and the maturing of the wine, but also within the appellation syndicate itself. Everything is done to offer us natural wines of the best possible quality.

A Winery family 

Finally Winery Marcel Richaud is a complete and faithful team. And we must also pay a warm tribute to his wife Marie (who unfortunately passed away too soon in 2015). Marcel is slowly but surely hanging up the reins to make way for his son Thomas and one of his daughters, Claire. The Richaud spirit continues, we are very happy about that!

Very good tasting of Marcel Richaud's natural wine!