France · Rhône Septentrional

Le Plan des Moines

Founded in 2011 by Daniel Orsolini, Thierry Pommet and Claude Serra, Le Plan des Moines makes Rhône wines from selected vineyards, with estate vinification, hand harvesting, organic vineyard work and freshness on the finish.

The producer

Le Plan des Moines began with a Côtes du Rhône and Côtes du Rhône Villages vineyard between Remoulins and Avignon. The three founders brought almost 60 years of combined wine-trade experience: Daniel Orsolini in international buying and selling, Thierry Pommet from a sommelier background and Claude Serra as viticulturist, winemaker and professor of oenology at Montpellier University. Claude controls viticulture, winemaking and bottling, while Thierry participates in blending.

The estate also works with Les Charretons, a four-hectare Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyard at Courthézon. Grapes are hand-picked and carefully sorted, organic treatments are prioritised and average yields do not exceed 40 hectolitres per hectare. La Borde 2013 shows crisp red fruit, blackcurrant jelly, raspberry, cedar, fine fleshy tannins and a menthol-like finish. Les Silènes takes a different cellar path, with five to six weeks of fermentation and at least eight months in traditional concrete vats protected from air.

Known for

Estate-made Rhône wines linking selected vineyards, hand harvesting, organic vineyard work, concrete maturation and freshness on the finish

Notable facts

The story

The Vineyard That Named the Producer

In 2011, Daniel Orsolini, Thierry Pommet and Claude Serra were choosing the first vineyard for their new Rhône project. They selected a Côtes du Rhône and Côtes du Rhône Villages vineyard between Remoulins and Avignon. The vineyard already carried the name Le Plan des Moines, and the three friends used that name for the producer they were building. Their combined wine-trade experience formed the practical foundation, but the first visible mark of the new estate came from the land itself. The name moved from the vineyard to the property, then onto the labels of wines that were vinified and bottled there.

From the atlas

Le Plan des Moines

At A Glance

Le Plan des Moines began in 2011 with a Côtes du Rhône and Côtes du Rhône Villages vineyard between Remoulins and Avignon. Three wine professionals built the producer around estate vinification and bottling, then added a four-hectare Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyard at Courthézon. Hand harvesting, careful sorting, organic vineyard work and freshness at the finish define the wines described here.

The Producer

Le Plan des Moines was founded by Daniel Orsolini, Thierry Pommet and Claude Serra, who brought almost 60 years of combined wine-trade experience to the project. Daniel had spent 20 years buying and selling wine internationally. Thierry began as a sommelier, works on blends and oversees European and American markets. Claude, a viticulturist, winemaker and professor of oenology at Montpellier University, controls viticulture, winemaking and bottling.

The division of work reaches directly into the bottles. Vineyard decisions and cellar work remain under Claude's control, Thierry tastes and blends with a sommelier's background, and Daniel brings experience from the commercial life of wine. The producer's first vineyard supplied the name, while the wines stay at the property from vinification through bottling.

Place

The first vineyard lies between Remoulins and Avignon and carries the Côtes du Rhône and Côtes du Rhône Villages appellation names. Those labels place the opening wines within the wider Rhône system. The later Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine comes from Les Charretons, a four-hectare vineyard at Courthézon. The range therefore moves from a first site identified through regional appellation names to a named vineyard inside one of the Rhône's more specific appellations.

The place names are part of the bottle's meaning. Côtes du Rhône and Côtes du Rhône Villages mark the beginning of the estate's work, while Châteauneuf-du-Pape records the Courthézon vineyard as a separate property and wine category.

Soil And Site

The physical anchors are location and scale. The first vineyard sits between Remoulins and Avignon. Les Charretons covers four hectares at Courthézon, giving the Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine a named vineyard and a defined production base. No soil type, elevation or exposure is supplied, so the site story stays with the places that appear on the labels and the size of the vineyard behind them.

Story

The estate began with three friends selecting a vineyard in 2011, then turning that selection into a property that handles its wines from grapes to bottle. Their experience came from different sides of the trade, but the practical decision was shared: harvest and vinify the grapes as naturally as possible while respecting the environment and the expression of each terroir.

That decision continues in the cellar. Every Le Plan des Moines wine is vinified and bottled at the property, avoiding the movement of grapes or bulk wine. The producer's history therefore runs through a chain of physical choices, from selected Rhône vineyards to on-site fermentation, maturation and bottling.

Vineyards And Cellar

The Châteauneuf-du-Pape holdings are listed as certified organic. Vineyard work also prioritises organic treatments, with average yields capped at 40 hectolitres per hectare. Grapes are traditionally hand-picked and carefully sorted, placing selection at the centre of the harvest before the fruit reaches the cellar.

The estate vinifies and bottles on the property, so grapes and bulk wine do not travel between separate facilities. Les Silènes gives the clearest named example of the cellar method: fermentation lasted five to six weeks, followed by at least eight months in traditional concrete vats protected from air. The concrete vessel and long maturation keep the wine's development tied to a controlled, enclosed cellar process.

Wines

The confirmed range begins with Côtes du Rhône and Côtes du Rhône Villages wines from the first vineyard, then reaches Châteauneuf-du-Pape through Les Charretons at Courthézon. The bottles carry different appellation positions, while the cellar work keeps them within the same estate system.

La Borde 2013 supplies a fruit-led profile with crisp red fruit, blackcurrant jelly, raspberry and cedar. Fine, fleshy tannins give the palate weight, and a menthol-like note marks the finish. Les Silènes is the concrete-matured wine, with its five-to-six-week fermentation and minimum eight-month élevage giving it a distinct cellar character within the range. Le Pré des Suves 2013 records a blend of 70 percent Grenache, 20 percent Syrah and 10 percent Carignan, so those proportions belong to that vintage and not to every release.

Across the named wines, the house description joins fruit richness with complexity, balance and freshness at the finish. The range combines appellation changes, vintage-specific blends and different cellar treatments instead of presenting one fixed recipe.

In The Glass

The tasting sequence begins with fruit richness, then moves into a palate with enough complexity and balance to carry the wine beyond its opening fruit. Freshness returns on the finish, keeping the final impression lifted instead of heavy. Hand-picked, sorted grapes and yields no higher than 40 hectolitres per hectare provide the harvest conditions behind this fruit-led style.

The cellar changes the path from one wine to another. Les Silènes spends five to six weeks fermenting and at least eight months in concrete vats protected from air, so its wine experience is shaped by long fermentation and enclosed maturation. La Borde brings the more vivid red-fruit register, while the producer's broader profile finishes with freshness.

A Bottle To Understand It

La Borde 2013 is the first bottle to open. Crisp red fruit leads into blackcurrant jelly and raspberry, with cedar adding a savoury edge. Fine, fleshy tannins give the middle palate a soft but present grip, and a menthol-like note remains after the fruit has faded. The bottle brings fruit, tannin, wood spice and freshness into one clearly described Rhône wine, making it the most direct starting point in the confirmed range.

Anecdote

In 2011, Daniel Orsolini, Thierry Pommet and Claude Serra were looking for a first vineyard for their new project. They selected a Côtes du Rhône and Côtes du Rhône Villages vineyard between Remoulins and Avignon. The vineyard already had a name, Le Plan des Moines, and the three friends used it for the producer they were building. Their combined wine-trade experience became the foundation of the estate, but the first public mark of the project came from that piece of ground. The name travelled from the vineyard to the property, then onto the labels of the wines made and bottled there.

Final Word

Le Plan des Moines connects selected Rhône vineyards with hands-on cellar work. Its first site between Remoulins and Avignon, the Courthézon vineyard of Les Charretons, organic vineyard work, hand harvesting, concrete maturation and freshness at the finish give the range a concrete shape.

Sources

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