A project born from the will of men and women
In 1925, our first wine-growers, on the impetus and led by Auguste Bastide, founded the “Coteaux de Pierrevert Wine and Agricultural Cooperative” to pool their means of production and intervene effectively in the markets for the marketing of their wines.
Since the 1980s, the cooperative cellars of the department have gradually regrouped by means of mergers. The last groupings concerned in 1992 then 1998 the cooperative cellars of Manosque, Villeneuve and Quinson, which joined us.
Our cooperative is therefore the only existing entity in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department today, and the only major wine-growing unit to operate in the “Appellation d’Origine Protégé” (AOP) of Pierrevert.
A terroir and values
Our terroir covers, in addition to this AOP, two other appellations called “Indication d’Origine Protégée” (IGP) :
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the IGP of the Alpes de Haute Provence, for wines with different grape varieties or a single variety of grape such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and dry Muscat and Hamburg Muscat.
- the IGP Méditerranée.
This terroir, a harmonious synthesis between soil and climate, is magnified by the work of our winegrowers. Our area of action extends around Pierrevert and over a dozen surrounding municipalities, but also along the Durance and in the Quinson sector in the Verdon valley.
To materialize but also symbolize our origins, we have adopted since 2011 the name “Petra Viridis”, originated from the Latin name, the “Green Roche”…
The main grape varieties are Grenache noir and Syrah, which are mixed with Merlot, Cabernet sauvignon, Muscats from Hamburg and berries, Vermentino, Grenache blanc…
Currently, our cooperative counts 80 winegrowers who work on nearly 400 hectares to produce an average of 25,000 hectoliters of wine at two winemaking sites, Pierrevert and Quinson. We produce red, rosé and white wines, which we market ourselves in bottles and wine fountains (bag in box) under our own labels for almost two thirds of our volumes.
Our cellar is furnished with modern equipment for wine making, pneumatic presses, refrigerated stainless steel vats, cold production group, tangential filters… Our working methods combine modernism and tradition but more importantly focus on creating wines that bear the signature of our terroir.
Our cooperative today
Today as yesterday, our cooperative is the appropriate structure to ensure that this common project of men and women to achieve the best wine quality.
With that in mind, we have developed for several years now an approach based on sustainable agriculture. Within this framework, the wine-growers of the Quinson area have successfully obtained after several years of effort the organic certification. Indeed, their vineyards are free from all herbicides or pesticides and they respect the environmental charters and quality standards of this activity sector.
Our mission is to develop a wide range of wines, suitable for a large number of markets. At the same time, we take into account the evolution of consumers’ tastes and desires. The pleasure of tasting our wines is our ultimate goal which counts as much as all the work carried out upstream, both by our wine makers in their vines and ‘inside our cellar, from the pruning of the vine to the bottling of the product almost a year later…
The fact that we have won numerous awards and medals from prestigious wine contests makes us think that we are on the right track…
