omaine Sainte Rose has a rich history of railing against the status quo. Sainte Rose herself, whose statue stands in the Orangerie in the back garden of the Chateau, championed the cause of Catholicism when it was under attack from Holy Roman Emperor Fredrick II. How appropriate given our current positioning against the traditional wine empires. It's also been a place where journeys begin, as in the 12th century, it was a refuge for Pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela.

The current journey is no less arduous.

It began in 2002 when we, Charles and Ruth Simpson, bought the Domaine with an ambition to create outstanding wine. And we are ambitious people, each giving up high-flying careers to pursue our dream.

And so far, so good, with a few bumps along the way. From our 33 hectare vineyard we have produced wines that have won critical acclaim. Jancis Robinson and Tim Atkins are but two of our admirers. You can read their reviews along with the wine medals we've won and plaudits received from other critics on the individual wine pages.

We're not ones to get into the often confusing and elevated language of wine making, but we do feel it necessary to mention our land, our terroir.
The vineyard spreads from the clay/limestone soils found along the banks of the River Thongue up onto the gravelly soil of the plateau.   We work entirely in the Vin De Pays or what is now Indication Géographique Protégé (IGP) system, which allows us to plant the grape varieties that we think you the customer wants.   We classify all our wines as IGP Cotes de Thongue due to the situation of the Domaine right beside the river.

Our methods are fairly unconventional too, at least for the south of France. We employ New World techniques in the vineyard to improve the quality of the fruit so that in the winery we can make clean wines with minimal intervention.  We end up with an eclectic range of interesting wines that we think appeals to all tastes.