Who makes it
An old stone house surrounded by vineyards forms the beginning of Domaine Serre Besson. American wine professional Victor Taylor runs the domaine with his partner Xavier Nyssen. Their wines come from estate vineyard parcels, with a principal blended Vinsobres cuvée alongside parcel wines made from Syrah and Grenache.
The property combines vineyard, forest, hillside parcels, and a cellar built into the slope. Hand harvesting, separate fermentation, and cement tanks keep the work close to the fruit from the moment it arrives.
Where it grows
At about 450 metres, Domaine Serre Besson lies in the Les Côtes lieu dit, facing Mont Ventoux. Vinsobres is the appellation named on the red wine label. Altitude generally slows ripening and helps preserve acidity, while the hillside setting places Syrah on the highest ground beside the forest.
The domaine sits between two ravines, with natural springs and forest protection to the north. Mont Ventoux remains part of the physical view from the property.
How it is made
The cellar
The domaine covers ten hectares, divided evenly between vineyard and forest. The five vineyard hectares contain 11 parcels, including one hectare planted in 1961 with mixed rows of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre. Syrah occupies the highest ground near the forest, while Grenache, Syrah, Viognier, Cinsault, Mourvèdre, and Carignan grow farther down the slope.
The grapes are harvested by hand into 20 kilogram bins, sorted by hand, destemmed, and gravity fed into cement fermentation tanks. For the Vinsobres cuvée, four lots ferment separately before blending the following spring. Maturation takes place partly in cement and partly in 400 litre oak ovals, giving the wine time in both inert and wooden vessels.
What they make
The range centres on Serre Besson Cru Vinsobres, a blended red whose grape proportions vary by vintage and typically include Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Mourvèdre, and Carignan. The parcel wines narrow the focus. Ragots 2024 is a 100% Syrah from the highest parcel beside the forest, made without added sulfites. Pauvre Diable 2024 is a certified organic 100% Grenache from the oldest Grenache parcels, also made without added sulfites.
Pauvre Diable can be drunk young and fresh or aged for three to five years. The range therefore moves from a blended appellation wine to single variety wines tied to specific parcels.
Wines to try
First bottle
Choose the 2022 Serre Besson Cru Vinsobres first. It is the principal blended Vinsobres cuvée, with Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, and Mourvèdre in one appellation wine. Ragots 2024 and Pauvre Diable 2024 move to single variety parcel bottlings, so the 2022 cuvée places the domaine's multi variety format before those narrower wines.