Our history
Since 1929, our united and passionate family in intimately linked to Gigondas' history
1929
Birth of Pierre Amadieu Winery
In 1929, Pierre Amadieu was 19 years old and already busy working the 7 hectares of vines of the small family vineyard in Gigondas. That very year, he decided to make and then sell the first wine bearing his name, and the winery
Pierre Amadieu was born.
He is one of the firsts to print the name of the appellation on his bottles and obtains from 1932 for his cuvee Clos de la Paillouse a golden medal in the Agricultural Concours of Paris.
1950
Acquisition of the Romane and La Machotte properties
Our grand father is a pioneer in several domains selecting wines, then buying in the 1950s, two properties, historically linked: Romane and La Machotte. We so become the largest estate of Gigondas with 137 ha of vines (338 acres), surrounded by 200 ha of garrigue and holm oaks which assure a natural protection for the vineyard.
From 1945, in order to make wine in best he builds a wine making cellar and a subterranean wine ageing cellar near the village. It is dug on two levels underground insuring constant temperature and hygrometry. Then, in 1955, Pierre buys an old railway tunnel near Pierrelongue (Drôme), to age his wines. This privileged place of 160 meters long received 159 oak casks of 30 hectolitres, allowing an exceptional ageing. Logistic constraints lead to the closure of the site in 2000, but it might be that this great ageing tool returns in activity tomorrow to follow the development of our company.
At the same time, the cellar of the farm of La Machotte is equipped with oak casks still used today and receives up to 2000 hectolitres of wines. Wines take advantage of a natural air conditioning, where 13th century ceramic vats are still visible.
Our grand father is a wine grower and a builder but also a precursor. Before all the current environmental talk, up to 1200 sheeps were pasturing in the vineyard in off-season, providing at the same time natural manure and controlled ground cover planting, in order to obtain a natural and healthy vineyard.
He is also worried about vineyard landscape impact and decides to plant on plots’ borders traditional olive trees and cypress of Florence.
1965 & 1975
Jean-Pierre and Claude
take up the reins in the vinyard and the cellar
Fascinated lover and defender of this terroir, our grandfather has played a decisive role for the appellation. Everywhere, he takes up to publicize the name of Gigondas and our wines are quickly appreciated, figuring on wine list of the famous French boat cruise Le France or of Air Africa company during several years.
At the end of his business studies, his elder son Jean-Pierre Amadieu joins him and structures a strong sales network, granting all importance for export, restaurants and retailers sales.
Then in 1976, some years after the consecration of Gigondas appellation, his second son Claude settles down and works the vineyard. He inherits from him environmental respect and runs the vines as naturally as possible. He elaborates the first “Marc de Gigondas” and creates our own vines’ nursery in order to obtain exactly the type of vines we wanted. With his wife Muriel, they develop private sales and for the pleasure of wines lovers start the cuvee Domaine Grand Romane, fortunate blending of old vines of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre.
Today
The third generation takes over the winemaking
Since 1989, Pierre Amadieu Jr (Jean-Pierre’s son) is on the head of the company. Agricultural engineer (Agro Paris Tech) and oenologist, He keeps on carrying the family estate and improve every year wines quality. His will is the looking for an elegance, a length on the palate and a “Burgundy” freshness in our wines. A careful parcels selection allows me today to elaborate different cuvees of Gigondas which express each in their way our exceptional terroir.
Passionate about wine, Claude’s children have naturally joined the estate:
Henri-Claude manages the sales department. After completing higher studies in business, he successfully founded his own signage services company, which he ran for six years. In 2010, he began his return to the wine world and went international to join the Chappellet family in Napa Valley, USA. There, he handled vinification, then dedicated a year to wine tourism, retail sales, and distribution networks.
Jean-Marie joined the estate in 2015. Trained as an agronomist and oenologist, he assists Pierre in the cellar with managing vinifications and blends. After spending some months with fellow winemakers Delas in the northern Rhône Valley and Chappellet in Napa Valley, he felt the pull to join the family adventure!
Maguelone, his wife, joined the business five years later. After obtaining a BTS in viticulture-oenology in Beaune, she expanded her knowledge with training in management, commerce, and marketing at the Angers Higher School of Agriculture. She oversees the tasting room and customer relations.
2019
90th anniversary of the first Pierre Amadieu cuvée & our winemakers passionate family
2021
The 4th Generation joins the Family Adventure
Marc-Pierre, the eldest son of Pierre Jr, joined in 2021 after studying Biological Engineering, completing his degree with a management focus on quality, specifically in viticulture and winemaking. He now assists Jean-Marie in the cellar with wine traceability and quality management.
With the 2024 harvest, it’s now his brother’s turn to join the family estate. After obtaining a BTS in viticulture-oenology in Beaune, Jean-Gabriel furthered his technical skills at the Changin School of Viticulture in Switzerland and enriched his experience through vinification and vineyard work in Australia, Sauternes, and the Rhône Valley (Tain l’Hermitage and Vacqueyras). He is now assisting Claude and Eric in vineyard management.
2026
A New Project for Future Generations
With the goal of consolidating our winemaking and aging sites, we began a new winery project in 2022, located on the upper level of an underground cellar.
This new facility, equipped with small fermentation tanks, will allow us to perform more parcel-based fermentations and to carry out even more precise work on our white wines.
To preserve the freshness of the harvest, we will transport the grapes from the vineyards to the tanks using small bins, facilitated by an adapted grape reception system.
A key feature of this new cellar will be the use of gravity throughout the production process for receiving the grapes, filling the tanks, and transferring the wines into barrels.
Construction started in June 2024 and is set to be completed in time for the 2026 harvest.
To pass on, to improve, to develop, are the watchwords of a close-knit, responsible and conscientious family.
Portraits...
Our labels over time...
A few pieces of history....
