France · Rhône Méridional

Domaine des Pasquiers

Lambert family Rhône estate owned since 1935, with 87 hectares across four appellations and blends built around Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre.

The producer

Since 1935, the Lambert family has worked an 87-hectare Rhône estate spanning Côtes du Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages Plan de Dieu, Côtes du Rhône Villages Sablet and Gigondas. The most fully described wine is Plan de Dieu, a red blend in which Grenache brings fruit and mellowness, Syrah contributes shape and delicacy, and Mourvèdre adds depth and concentration.

Jean-Claude and Philippe Lambert took over in 1998, and Philippe's children Matthieu and Perrine now work with them. The entire vineyard began conversion to organic agriculture in 2010. Plan de Dieu 2023 combines 60% Grenache, 30% Syrah and 10% Mourvèdre at 15% alcohol, with cocoa, sweet spice, fresh mint, tobacco, cherries and blackberries across the nose and palate.

Known for

Rhône red blends that assign Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre distinct jobs: fruit and mellowness, shape and delicacy, and depth and concentration.

Notable facts

The story

From the 1998 handover to the 2010 organic conversion

In 1998, brothers Jean-Claude and Philippe Lambert took over Domaine des Pasquiers, the 87-hectare estate their family had owned since 1935. Four generations had worked in viticulture before the brothers assumed management. Twelve years later, in 2010, the Lambert family began converting the entire vineyard to organic agriculture. Jean-Claude and Philippe now manage the estate with Philippe's children, Matthieu and Perrine. The family range spans Côtes du Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages Plan de Dieu, Côtes du Rhône Villages Sablet and Gigondas, with Plan de Dieu built from Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre.

From the atlas

Domaine des Pasquiers

At A Glance

Domaine des Pasquiers is a Lambert family estate in the Rhône, owned and operated by the family since 1935. Four generations have worked in viticulture across its 87 hectares, with wines carrying Côtes du Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages Plan de Dieu, Côtes du Rhône Villages Sablet, and Gigondas labels.

Its blending logic is direct. Grenache brings fruit and mellowness, Syrah supplies shape and delicacy, and Mourvèdre adds depth and concentration. Plan de Dieu 2023 puts those roles into a 60% Grenache, 30% Syrah, and 10% Mourvèdre red at 15% alcohol.

The Producer

Pasquiers is a large Rhône estate with a family history that reaches back to 1935 and a range spread across four appellations. The Lambert family has kept the property in its own hands while the wines have moved through several label categories, from broad Côtes du Rhône to the more specific Plan de Dieu, Sablet, and Gigondas names.

Jean-Claude and Philippe Lambert took over the estate in 1998, and Philippe's children Matthieu and Perrine now work with them. That family handover sits alongside a practical wine philosophy: each grape has a job in the blend, so the final wine can carry rounded fruit, defined shape, and darker depth in the same glass.

Place

The Rhône location becomes visible through the appellation names on the bottles. Côtes du Rhône signals the broad regional category, while Côtes du Rhône Villages Plan de Dieu and Côtes du Rhône Villages Sablet identify named village appellations. Gigondas brings a separate appellation name within the estate's range. The wording changes from label to label, even though the wines come from one family operation.

Plan de Dieu is the most fully described wine in the supplied range. Its tasting language centres on stewed cherries, garrigue, thyme, cocoa, sweet spices, mint, tobacco, and clean, sweet fruit. Those details give the appellation a recognisable Rhône register without assigning unsupported flavour profiles to the estate's Sablet, Gigondas, or broader Côtes du Rhône bottles.

Soil And Site

No soil type, slope, elevation, aspect, or individual parcel allocation is established for the estate. The useful physical fact is its scale: 87 hectares spread across four appellation names. In 2010, the Lambert family began converting the entire vineyard to organic agriculture, so the farming change belongs to the whole estate rather than one isolated bottle.

That decision changes how the range can be read. Plan de Dieu is not presented as a separate project detached from the rest of Pasquiers. It comes from the same vineyard operation that also supplies the Côtes du Rhône, Sablet, and Gigondas labels.

Story

The Lambert family's estate arc begins with ownership in 1935 and continues through four generations devoted to viticulture. The important changes came through management and farming: Jean-Claude and Philippe Lambert took over in 1998, then the family began converting the entire vineyard to organic agriculture in 2010. Each date marks a practical alteration to how the estate was run.

Today, Philippe's children Matthieu and Perrine work alongside the brothers, while the range still spans four Rhône appellations. The family timeline therefore sits directly behind the labels, linking an established property with a younger generation and a vineyard-wide farming change.

Vineyards And Cellar

The estate's grape choices are functional. Grenache is selected for fruitiness and mellowness, giving the blend its rounded, sweet-fruited centre. Syrah is chosen for shape and delicacy, bringing definition to the fruit. Mourvèdre contributes depth and concentration, adding a darker register to the blend.

Plan de Dieu 2023 shows the proportions clearly: 60% Grenache, 30% Syrah, and 10% Mourvèdre. The composition makes the wine's three-part design legible in the glass, with Grenache carrying the fruit, Syrah giving the blend a defined outline, and Mourvèdre increasing its density. No further fermentation or ageing regime is established for this wine.

Wines

The range moves across Côtes du Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages Plan de Dieu, Côtes du Rhône Villages Sablet, and Gigondas. Those appellations provide the estate's label architecture, while Plan de Dieu supplies the most detailed picture of how the wines taste. The range should be approached through its named bottles, not through one universal blend formula, because the composition can vary by vintage.

Plan de Dieu 2023 is a 60% Grenache, 30% Syrah, and 10% Mourvèdre red with 15% alcohol. Its nose moves between cocoa and sweet spices, with fresh mint lifting the darker aromas. On the palate, tobacco meets clean, sweet fruit recalling cherries or blackberries. The wine's profile joins warm fruit, herbal lift, savoury detail, and a full-bodied alcohol level without losing its fruit-led centre.

Earlier vintages show how the expression shifts. Plan de Dieu 2019 has warm, preserved fruit and a powerful nose refreshed by mint. The 2014 vintage turns toward perfumed plum, baked bramble fruit, and sweet chestnut. Across the three releases, the recurring markers are ripe fruit, herbal freshness, darker savoury notes, and a rounded Rhône shape.

In The Glass

The first aromas from Plan de Dieu rise in layers: stewed cherry gives the wine its warm fruit centre, while garrigue and thyme bring a dry herbal edge. In the 2023 vintage, cocoa and sweet spice deepen the nose, and fresh mint lifts it. Grenache's role in fruitiness and mellowness fits the rounded cherry and blackberry register, while Mourvèdre's depth and concentration support the darker tones.

On the palate, the 2023 wine carries clean, sweet fruit with tobacco alongside it. The texture is fruity and round, with the 15% alcohol adding breadth to the mouthfeel. Mint returns as the lasting counterpoint to the warm fruit, keeping the impression lifted. The 2019 leans warmer and more preserved, while 2014 adds plum, baked bramble, and chestnut to the same family of Rhône flavours.

A Bottle To Understand It

Plan de Dieu 2023 is the bottle to open first. Its 60% Grenache, 30% Syrah, and 10% Mourvèdre blend shows the estate's grape-by-grape method in one pour: Grenache supplies the sweet cherry and blackberry centre, Syrah gives the fruit a defined shape, and Mourvèdre brings cocoa, tobacco, and darker concentration. Fresh mint and sweet spice brighten the nose, while the round palate carries 15% alcohol with clean fruit.

It is a useful starting bottle because the blend, vintage, and tasting profile line up clearly. The wine lets the three grapes work as a coordinated Rhône red, with ripe fruit, herbal lift, savoury detail, and a broad mouthfeel.

Anecdote

In 1998, brothers Jean-Claude and Philippe Lambert took over Domaine des Pasquiers, the 87-hectare estate their family had owned since 1935. Four generations had worked in viticulture before the brothers assumed management. Twelve years later, in 2010, the Lambert family began converting the entire vineyard to organic agriculture. Jean-Claude and Philippe now manage the estate with Philippe's children, Matthieu and Perrine. The family range spans Côtes du Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages Plan de Dieu, Côtes du Rhône Villages Sablet, and Gigondas, with Plan de Dieu built from Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre.

Final Word

Domaine des Pasquiers brings together a long Lambert family tenure, an 87-hectare Rhône estate, four appellation names, and a clear blending method. Plan de Dieu 2023 offers the most direct taste of that method, combining Grenache fruit and mellowness with Syrah shape and Mourvèdre depth. Its cherries, blackberries, mint, cocoa, tobacco, and sweet spice give the family story a place in the glass.

Sources

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