Southern Rhône bike tour - Vacqueyras & Gigondas
Cycling in the foothills of the beautiful Dentelles de Montmirail and discovering its famous Southern Rhône wines and Provençal villages
The main square in beautiful Gigondas, Southern Rhône - Source: Wine Keller
If you like your fruity, jammy, full, but excellent value Rhône red wines, then they probably come from the hotter, more Mediterranean Southern Rhône wine region and I’m sure you’ve heard of its famous wines - Châteauneuf-du-Pape being probably the most well known. We were keen to explore this beautiful and varied wine region, to discover its wines of course and what makes them different from each other, but also to explore the stunning villages, scenery, landscapes and gastronomy of this special part of Southern France. With each different wine region being within easy reach of the next, we decided the best way to experience the Southern Rhône was by bike!
We started with the famous wine villages and wine appellations of Vacqueyras and Gigondas - read on to see what we discovered!
Also see here for our wine tour by bike of Rasteau and Cairanne.
See also our video below!
The Southern Rhône wine region
The Southern Rhône wine region is made up of two French départements, divided by the River Rhône. The département of Gard lies on the western side of the famous papal city of Avignon, with the beautiful Roman cities of Arles and Nîmes and the natural wonder that is the Camargue. On the eastern side lies the vast département of Vaucluse , spread out to the east of the city of Orange, the home of Côtes du Rhône wines.
Vaucluse is real Provence country and home to many of the well-known Southern Rhône wine appellations and stunning wine villages of the same name - ie. Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas, Cairanne, Rasteau, Vacqueyras and Beaumes de Venise.
So for this wine tour, we headed into Vaucluse to explore the beautiful wine villages of Vacqueyras and Gigondas.
Vacqueyras vineyards, Southern Rhône - Source: Wine Keller
The Southern Rhône wines and wine appellations
See here for general information on the Southern Rhône wines and grape varieties, the Southern Rhône appellations - or AOCs - and the Rhône Valley wine map.
We were keen to get to know better the famous Rhône red wines, based mainly on the Grenache grape variety, but also to discover something new, especially in the area of white wines, which the area is starting to become better known for.
The distinctive bottle emblem
The Southern Rhône villages applied for their own AOC status at different times, having proven the quality of their wines and been promoted through the ranks of ‘Côtes du Rhônes’, ‘Côtes du Rhônes-Villages’ and ‘Côtes du Rhônes-Villages-’xx village’’.
The distinctive embossed bottles, with the crossed keys can be used all across the Rhône Valley region, but only for ‘cru’ or AOC wines. This example being for an AOC Vacqueyras wine.
AOC Gigondas - Gigondas wine
The beautiful Gigondas village, known for its wines since Roman times, was the first Southern Rhône village to achieve its own AOC, back in 1971. Perched on the hillside in the foothills of the Dentelles de Montmirail - many visit Gigondas each year to explore and to taste its well-known wines.
Due to its relatively high elevation and its mainly limestone soils, Gigondas wines tend to be more aromatic and fresher than nearby châteauneuf-du-pape wines and its best wines can certainly rival them.
There are a lot of different wine producers in Gigondas, with some more traditional in approach and others more innovative. Therefore, winemaking techniques and wine styles vary through the AOC, but Gigondas red wines - and also rosés, tend to represent good-value for money.
The main grape variety is red Grenache and this is sometimes blended with other varieties, especially Mourvèdre.
Gigondas vineyards - Source: Wine Keller
Vacqueyras vineyards - Source: Wine Keller
AOC Vacqueyras - Vacqueyras wines
Vacqueyras was the second of the Southern Rhône Côtes du Rhône villages to achieve its own AOC, in 1990.
What is the difference between Gigondas and Vacqueyras wines?
The village of Vacqueyras and its vineyards are situated at a lower altitude compared to Gigondas and the soils are sandy and stony, not limestone. This very different terroir means that Vacqueyras wines tend to be a bit more heady and ‘rustic’ compared to Gigondas wines, but still represent good value for money.
Vacqueyras is distinct in that it is the only AOC on the left bank of the River Rhône which is able to produce wines of all 3 colours, red, rosé and white. The main grape variety is Grenache for the dominant red wines, but Vacqueyras is starting to earn a reputation for smoky, full-bodied, dry white wines, based on the Grenache Blanc grape variety.
Many of the wine producers produce wines under both AOCs - Vacqueyras and Gigondas.
Our bike tour of Vacqueyras and Gigondas
In May 2022 we spent a few weeks in France, exploring different wine regions and decided to base ourselves in Vacqueyras for 5 days to explore the surrounding wine villages and Southern Rhône AOCs. We had driven with our own car from England, taking our bikes with us and with the fabulous weather, were very keen to do some cycling in Southern France!
We decided to take 1 full day to visit both the Vacqueyras region and the Gigondas region, with time built in to explore the local villages and tourist sites as well as do some wine tasting! This meant getting up and preparing ourselves and our bikes early - especially as the temperature was forecast to be over 30 degrees!
The best way to explore the Southern Rhône!
Our accommodation in Vacqueyras
We decided to make Vacqueyras our base whilst exploring the Southern Rhône tour, as it’s so central to the wine villages and sights like Mont Ventoux and the Dentelles de Montmirail. We found a delightful ‘chambre d’hôte’ on AirBnb called Terre de Bacchus, located at the top of the village, with everything within easy walking distance and amazing views to the stunning ‘Dentelles’ (see later).
We had our own ground floor apartment with a sleeping and living area, a small but well-furnished kitchen and a bathroom with a shower. We had our own private terrace area, with a table and chairs, where we enjoyed relaxing in the evening and there was also a lovely outdoor pool and a place to safely store our bikes and park the car. The hospitality was wonderful, with the owners offering lots of tips about where to go and what to do. Note - the owners do not speak English, so you need some French to get by here!
We can’t recommend Terre de Bacchus enough and hope to return one day soon. We loved it so much that we actually returned a week after our planned stay for two more nights!
An outline of our bike tour
Our planned route was based on one of the many Provence cycle routes offered by ‘La Provence à Velo’ - a really useful guide it you plan on doing some cycling in Southern France!
Route no. 32 is called ‘The landscapes of the Côtes du Rhône’, taking in Beaumes-De-Venise, Aubignan, Sarrians, Vacqueyras, Gigondas, Violes and Sablet. You can follow the route online or via a map to be found in all of the local tourist offices. (There is an excellent tourist office in the centre of Gigondas).
We started our bike tour in Vacqueyras, then proceeded to Gigondas, which took us on a route which hugged the river Ouvèze on our left and the foothills of the Dentelles de Montmirail on our right. After cycling up to visit Gigondas we continued on to the pretty village of Sablet and then onto Séguret - a stunning, typically Provençal, hilltop village. Here, after exploring the village, we turned around and returned to Vacqueyras via an alternate route - a total of approximately 30km. We left our accommodation at approximately 9.30am and returned at about 7pm - tired, hot but exhilarated after such an amazing day!
The beautiful vineyards and villages of Southern Rhône - Source: Wine Keller
The Dentelles de Montmirail
When you explore this region, the towering spectacle of Mont Ventoux - the ‘Giant of Provence’ - is never far away at over 1900m high, but just as impressive, are the beautiful jagged peaks of the Dentelles de Montmirail. Named after its spectacular, jagged, saw-toothed limestone crests, the Dentelles stand out distinctly from the surrounding olive orchards and vineyards and provide some of the best and most dramatic scenery in France.
The Dentelles de Montmirail mountain range is a magnet for nature lovers, hikers and cyclists alike, but of course, also for wine lovers. You can follow the ‘Côtes du Rhône’ wine route to explore the area in and around the Dentelles, which comprise 11 distinct towns and villages - many of course, famous for their AOC wines - including Beaumes de Venise, Crestet, Gigondas, La Roque-Alric, Lafare, Le Barroux, Malaucène, Sablet, Suzette, Vacqueyras, Vaison la Romaine to the north of the Dentelles, and Séguret, listed among the most beautiful villages of France.
The amazing Dentelles de Montmirail in Vaucluse, France
Discovering Vacqueyras and its wines
The small ‘agricultural’ village of Vacqueyras lies 20km east of Orange in the Upper Vaucluse. The village is spread out in a circle around a chateau and church, which sits proudly overlooking the village. You can wander around the pretty village streets and alleyways and stroll along the main street, Cours Stassart, lined with plane trees. This is where you will find the main bar, a couple of restaurants and a take-away pizza bar, which we’d highly recommend! We would also recommend the local butcher, located just off the Cours Stassart! The local market is held here on a regular basis.
Wine tasting at the ‘Caveau du Vacqueyras’
This is where we started our wine tour, with a visit to the ‘Caveau du Vacqueyras’ - and what a find this is! Basically you can discover all of the Vacqueyras wines here, without making appointments to see each individual winery. They stock over 30 different AOC Vacqueyras wines and if you wish to buy any wine, they offer the same price as you would pay buying directly from the winery. They also offer tastings for nearby Muscat de Beaumes de Venise wines.
We spent a good hour here, trying the different wines - it’s a gem of a place and a great way to experience the wines of Vacqueyras!
From here we cycled just 1km out of the village and onto a winery which had been recommended to us.
Wine tasting at Domaine le Clos des Cazaux
Domaine le Clos des Cazaux is a fifth generation family winery, managed today by brothers Jean-Michel and Fredéric Vache. Their ancestor, Gabriel Archimbaud, was one of the first to sell bottled Vacqueyras from 1947, but vines have been growing on the estate since the middle of the 19th century. The Vache and Archimbaud families are among the oldest families in the village of Vacqueyras.
Today the family farms approximately 46 hectares of vineyards, dedicated to AOC Vacqueyras (26 hectares), AOC Gigondas (16 hectares) and AOC Côtes du Rhône (4 hectares) wines.
The Vacqueyras vineyards surround the main estate buildings and the Gigondas vineyards are located in the extreme south of the Gigondas appellation , on a hill in the heart of the Dentelles de Montmirail. Here, they are dominated by the remains of an old watchtower dating from the 8th century: "La Tour Sarrasine", owned by the family since the 1950s.
The grape varieties are mainly Grenache noir, Syrah and Mourvèdre. For the white wines, the family farm mainly old Clairette vines, with some Roussanne, Grenache Blanc and Viognier.
We tasted a range of the Vacqueyras white, rosé and red wines and loved them all - but especially a white cuvée called ‘Les Clefs d’Or, 2021’, which we now purchase at home from The Wine Society on a regular basis! White wines are still in the minority in the Southern Rhône, compared to red wines and this is a real gem!
Our wine tasting at Domaine le Clos des Cazaux was hosted by a lady called Pascale who provided us with lots of information about the wines and the estate. It was very special to be able to sit in one of the oldest parts of the building - now the tasting cellar - dating back from the 12th century and belonging once to the Knights Templar! This is one of the things we love about wine - being able to connect with history and culture too!
Contact Domaine le Clos des Cazaux in advance to arrange your visit.
After our excellent wine tasting, we continued towards Gigondas, enjoying the fabulous scenery all around us, the vineyards and the towering, jagged peaks of the Dentelles de Montmirail up above us!
The terrain is relatively flat here for the 4-5km to Gigondas, but there is a steep climb up to the village at the end!
Discovering Gigondas and its wines
With a population of under 1000, the beautiful village of Gigondas gives itself completely to the business of wine! The vineyards which surround the village have been cultivated over the past 2 centuries and there are lots of opportunities here for wine tasting!
Gigondas and its vineyards beneath the Dentelles de Montmirail - Source: Wine Keller
You can leave your car just outside the village and walk up into the main village square, so beautiful with its distinctive and typically French plane trees! We were able to cycle right up and park up our bikes safely in the square, allowing us to wander round and enjoy the fabulous views! The spectacular setting high up on the hillside offers amazing views over the countryside, beyond the confines of the Gigondas vineyards and over towards the surrounding villages.
We strolled up from the village square, with its many artisan shops, the tourist information centre and of course wine shops and cellars and went on to explore the tiny alleyways up towards the lovely 11th century Sainte Catherine Church. Higher up still on top of a rocky ridge, lies the ruins of the mediaeval castle, watching over the village below.
There are lots of bars and restaurants to choose from in Gigondas, with local foods and extensive wine lists of course! It’s more touristy than Vacqueyras, but with a greater choice of facilities.
Once back in the village square it was down to the business of some wine tasting! Several of the top Gigondas wine estates have shops in the square, for example Domaine du Terme , but having had such an excellent experience at the Caveau du Vacqueyras, we decided to visit the ‘Caveau du Gigondas’, which similarly offer the opportunity to taste over 100 AOC Gigondas wines and to purchase at the same price as at the winery.
We spent another enjoyable and rewarding hour here - tasting over 10 AOC Gigondas wines! The service and information we received was excellent and we would highly recommend it. We loved the wines - more elegant and complex than the Vacqueyras wines - different but both excellent. No white wines here, just reds!
There are over 80 winemakers producing AOC Gigondas wines. If you want to visit some individual wineries, some great options include: Château de Saint Cosme, Domaine des Bosquets, Domaine Santa Duc and Domaine la Bouïssière.
Tips and travel guide for visiting Vacqueyras and Gigondas by bike
When to visit
The best time to visit is April - July (we visited in May and it was beautiful). August can be extremely hot and busy and many wineries will be closed to visitors. September is harvest time, so you may not be able to visit some wineries.
How to get to the Southern Rhône wine region
The closest international airports to the wine villages of the Vaucluse region of Provence are Marseille and Nimes. Avignon airport is closer, but only offers internal flights. The Avignon TGV is served by the Eurostar from London.
Visiting wineries in the Southern Rhône
You will find a warm welcome at wineries in the Southern Rhône, but always try to call and arrange in advance. Always avoid lunch time - everything tends to close between 12pm and 2.30pm - also quite often on a Monday.
Other Rhône valley wine regions and villages to explore
The beauty of spending time in the southern Rhône region is that you can combine multiple wine appellations in one trip. We did just this and were able to visit many well-known Rhône Valley vineyards and regions in the space of a week. Wine villages like Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Cairanne, Rasteau, Ventoux and Beaumes-les-Venise are all within easy reach of Vacqueyras and Gigondas.
Luberon
The beautiful Luberon region is not far away - another Rhône Valley appellation - and the amazing Luberon Regional Nature Park. Straddling the départements of Vaucluse and Alpes-de-Hautes-Provence, Luberon, said to be the real, authentic Provence, is famous for being the former home of author Peter Mayle and for its medieval hilltop villages.
Visit Séguret
Make time to visit this beautiful village, classified as one of the 'most beautiful villages in France'.
Séguret is a typical mediaeval Provençal village, with bags of charm and character! We entered the village by way of the impressive and original village gate - Porte Reynier - having locked up our bikes here to avoid having to push or ride them over the windy, steep in places, cobbled streets.
There is lots of evidence of mediaeval times as you wander through this picturesque village, including the Mascarons fountain, a listed historic monument, the Romanesque church dating from the 10th-12th centuries and the old 17th-century belfry.
We wandered the pretty streets, soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the incredible views, especially from the top of the village and the old castle ruins. There are plenty of artisanal shops to browse around and bars and restaurants. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at a café/restaurant called Côté Terrasse, which included probably the best crème brûlee we have ever tasted! We were also recommended a restaurant/hotel just outside Séguret, called La Bastide Bleue, which looked amazing, but unfortunately we just ran out of time during our visit to dine there.
We would highly recommend visiting Séguret - it’s a beautiful village and provided us with a welcome stop during our day’s bike ride!
Other pretty villages in Vaucluse include Sablet, Mazan, Vaisan-la-Romaine, Sainte-Cécile and Visan.
The beautiful village of Sablet - Source: Wine Keller
Visit Avignon
If you’re in Vaucluse we would definitely recommend you visit the famous city of Avignon - the ancient ‘papal’ city and at one time, the seat of the Popes and the world’s medieval capital. Today Avignon is only a small city, but it packs a punch in terms of history and its historic monuments, art and culture, shopping, dining and simply chilling!
Relax in the Place du Palais du Papes - the main square in Avignon, which sits in front of the famous and majestic Pope’s Palace - a Unesco World Heritage Site. Built in the 1300s, a tour of the palace is a must when in Avignon! Head up to the Petit Palais, a former cardinal’s residence, then up to the Rocher des Doms, a beautiful, peaceful area with amazing views across to Villeneuve-les-Avignon and the famous Avignon bridge - the Saint Bénézet Bridge. Just 4 arches remain of the original bridge, built around 1180 and immortalised in the song, ‘Sur le pont d’Avignon, en y danse, en y danse’.
See here for more information about Avignon, but try to visit if you can!
The famous Palais des Papes, Avignon
Avignon's famous bridge
Cycling in the Southern Rhône
Cycling is easy and popular in France - and certainly in the Southern Rhône - which is a magnet for holiday and professional cyclists alike! There is a lot of information about cycle routes and cycle hire in the tourist information centres and here are some ideas for Vaucluse cycling routes.
Hiking in the Southern Rhône
This region offers incredible countryside and fantastic hiking trails to enjoy for all levels of hikers.
Make time to experience the beautiful jagged peaks of the Dentelles de Montmirail. There are numerous walking and hiking routes here which enable you to really enjoy the amazing, natural landscapes. Nearby Mont Ventoux also offers exceptional hiking experiences.
Conclusion and personal highlights
We spent the most amazing day exploring the wine villages of Vacqueyras and Gigondas in the Southern Rhône and loved doing it by bike - so much better than by car! The Southern Rhône is the perfect place to explore by bike - the scenery is amazing and there are lots of great bike routes and you can experience so much in just 1 day! We loved everything about the day - it’s hard to pick anything out specifically - and of course, we enjoyed getting back to our little apartment and enjoying some of Provence’s finest gastronomy - see below!!
