Domaine de L'Ile

Domaine de L’Ile is situated on Porquerolles, a frankly stunning island off the south coast of France, accessible only by boat from Toulon or from a peninsula south of Hyeres. In fact the ferries stop in the evening much to the delight of the locals and with very little accommodation on the island it retains its peaceful charm once the ‘foreigners’ leave…

The history of the domain is intrinsically linked to the one of Porquerolles island, from Roman times. The former owner, Sebastien Le Ber, was the descendant of Francois-Joseph Fournier who bought the island in 1912 as a gift to his wife who had planted the first vines. He planted three ‘valleys’ of vines following a huge fire that burnt out the entire island along with forests, olive trees and citrus groves.

In 2019, Chanel took over the operations of the domain. Since then, the team of Nicolas Audebert, who is also running the Bordeaux estates (Rauzan-Segla, Canon and Berliquet) of the company.

The terrior is both beautiful and special – A mixture of millennia schist and marine influence. In fact the schist is very similar to the soils found just over the water on the famous Clos de Mirelle of Domaine Ott. This seam of soil descends under the ocean to re-appear on Porquerolles, along with a layer of Clay.

The Domaine is a total of 42 hectares of which 27 hectares are currently harvested as they replant.