Historia
Domaine Isabel Ferrando was created by Isabel Ferrando. She was born in Carpentras about 15 kilometres from Châteauneuf du Pape. Before getting involved in wine making she spent ten years working as a banker in Nîmes in the finance department which gave her the opportunity to be in contact with numerous local winemakers from the Rhône Valley. She admired them for their work, but learnt how not to go bankrupt running a Domaine having to deal with their financial situation. After the birth of her daughter Guillemette in 1997, Isabel wanted to find a profession that would bring her closer to nature and away from office stress. In the late 1990s Isabel’s passion for wine grew stronger and she started spending time visiting various estates in the Rhône Valley doing tastings and asking a lot of questions and learning.
In 1999, her husband Germain Giraud happens to be at a meeting with the mayor of Châteuneuf du Pape, also a winemaker and asked him if there was a property for sale in Châteauneuf du Pape. By chance Saint Préfert in the lieu-dit “Le Petit Serres” had just come on the market, but things were not simple with Madame Serre as she was upset with the whole village, plus growers only like to sale parcels to the locals. While Germain was negotiating with her, Isabel went back to studies to complete a two-year course at the Lycée Viticole in Carpentras and Orange while also doing her practical training at Domaine Raspail in Gigondas. It was the only estate willing to give her a chance after knocking on many doors, being a 34 year old woman and not coming from a family of growers it was not simple. In 2002, after nearly two years of tough negotiations, Madame Serre finally declared her readiness to sell the buildings with its 13.4 hectares of vineyard and Isabel’s dream became a reality with Domaine Saint Préfert.
Isabel's passion for the terroir approach encouraged her to purchase other parcels to produce a Châteauneuf du Pape from different terroirs and style to Saint Préfert. In 2004, she created Domaine Isabel Ferrando and purchased a first parcel in the area named "Colombis" after which she named her new wine, the parcel is planted with old Grenache Noir. Today, after numerous successful vintages, Isabel can be proud of what she has achieved as an outsider, as some in the international wine press refer to her as the “Queen" of Chateauneuf du Pape.