About Cave de Tain

Cave de Tain was founded by Louis Gambert de Loche in 1933, a visionary vigneron who helped establish the French AOC system and was a passionate defender of the Hermitage appellation. Since the winery’s creation, successive generations have contributed to its growth; it is now one of the leading producers in the northern Rhône Valley.

On the left bank of the Rhône, between Lyon and Valence, the hill of the Hermitage dominates the Crozes-Hermitage appellation. On the right bank, from north to south, the vineyards of Saint-Joseph, Cornas and Saint-Péray spread out on terraces. Nature has gifted this area with unique, noble grape varieties which have turned out to be the best suited to the demanding terroirs: SYRAH (the only grape variety used to make our red wines), and MARSANNE (used mainly for our white wines with Roussanne).  Indeed, THE ORIGINAL SYRAH was born in these vineyards on the northern Côtes-du-Rhône, despite all the stories that claim otherwise — research carried out in the United States and France has confirmed the French origin of the Syrah grape variety.

Certified since 2009, Cave de Tain was initially responsible for creating the Sustainable Winegrowers group (VIGNERONS EN DEVELOPPEMENT DURABLE) and its CSR approach (corporate social responsibility) that has united the leading wineries of France.

The Hermitage appellation is renowned for producing wines that rank among the world’s greatest. Vines have been cultivated on these exceptional soils for over 2000 years. The hand of man shaped this unchanging and spectacular landscape of vineyards into terraces, supported by small walls in dry stones to stabilize the ground. Since 1933 the history of the Cave de Tain and the Hermitage appellation have been closely related. Cave de Tain plays a major role in the appellation, thanks to its growers and its own estate of 22 hectares, called Le Domaine Gambert de Loche. Our cuvée Gambert de Loche is a rigorous plot selection on old and low-yielding vines situated in the ‘lieux-dits’ of Le Méal, L’Hermite and La Croix. After a long and classic vatting, warm wine is run off directly into new French oak barrels for about 18 months.