Principal white grape varieties : Roussanne, clairette, grenache blanc, picpoul and bourboulenc.

Principal red grape-varieties : For the Prieuré cuvee: syrah, grenache, mourvèdre, plus what makes Bébian so special : a large parcel planted with the 13 grape-varieties of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. For the cuvee “La Chapelle”: young vines of syrah and grenache along with cinsaut and carignan.

Average vine age : 28 years, with 3 hectares of grenache that were planted in 1925.

Vine selection : Essentially massale selection : the syrah vines come from Chave in Hermitage in the Northern Rhône; the grenache and the 13 varieties from Château Rayas in Châteauneuf-du-Pape; the mourvèdre from Tempier in Bandol. We continue this practice of selection and have just planted almost 2 hectares of syrah from Château de Beaucastel in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and 2 hectares of grenache coming from our own 80 year old vines.

Vine density : 5000/6250 vines per hectare.

Pruning : 6 spurs, 1-2 eyes per vine (bush vine, spur and single cane trellising).

Fertilizer : Not used unless the vines have a deficiency. In this case, only organic manure is used (no chemical fertilizers).

Crop treatment : We use the method called “lutte raisonnée” / integrated pest and disease management. Ploughing in spring and fall.

Yields : 20-25 hl/ha for Prieuré white; 25-30 hl/ha on average for Prieuré red; 30-35 hl/ha for the Chapelle white and red.