Les Vins de Vienne is a wonderful collaborative project from three of the Northern Rhone's most iconic producers. Yves Cuilleron started out as a winegrower in 1987. In 1988, Francois Villard asked Yves to take him on for an internship. He did the harvests in 1988 and 1989. When Francois came to live not far from Yves in 1989, they continued to see one another, played football together and really became friends. As for Pierre Gaillard, they knew him like many other winegrowers, but no more than that. But Yves also sent Francois to do an internship with Pierre, because he liked the wine he made. Francois and Pierre became friends too and the three winegrowers then began to form an amicable trio. The rest, as they say, is history!

The Rhone Valley is blessed with an ideal combination of contrasting climate influences. The round stones that were created by glaciers moving and rolling rivers reflect heat upon the vines to encourage ripening. The stones retain the heat into the night which is needed when the mistral wind starts gusting down the Rhone Valley starting near Dijon. The mistral wind could blow the ears off a donkey. The vines need to be staked down to prevent them from blowing over but the benefit is that it cools the vines and retains acidity, essential for aging.