Domaine Albert Belle

The French winery of Domain Belle has always had a remarkable story to tell. In the olden days of the 1600s, the vineyards surrounding the Chateau de Larnage had numerous vines growing in them. At that time, the entire land and its produce were the possessions of the Lord of Larnage. It implied that each resident under the Lord’s property had to give corvee labour amounting to three days of unpaid work. 

This system changed in 1769 when the new Lord of Larnage, Claude François Mure, called a village assembly. There, the decisions taken granted each family a small plot of land. They also received vines that they could put to their usage. Since then, the families and their holdings gradually expanded. By the 1930s, the land entailed multiple neighbouring plots dedicated to winemaking and local selling. 

A significant change occurred when Louis Belle became the owner of the property. As an avid lover of growing wines, Louis was not much interested in winemaking. Using his knowledge of vineyards, he acquired excellent land in the communities of Tain l’Hermitage and Larnage. When Louis handed over the properties to Albert, his son, in the 1970s, the plot comprised 4ha distributed over the two communes.  

After receiving the land, Albert Belle, as a passionate wine and vine lover, started making wine for his friends and himself. The creation of Domaine Belle received a push during his time when his son, Phillipe, provided the impetus in 1990. Phillipe aided Albert to build a functional and modern winery with the knowledge acquired from his recent study of oenology. They aimed to obtain the means of producing high-quality wines that respect their origins. From then on, Domaine Belle’s vineyards expanded exponentially to include various types of soils and distinct appellations, reaching where it is today. 

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