Maison Tardieu-Laurent

Michel Tardieu learned about wine while working for 15 years as a chauffeur for French government dignitaries around the Rhône Valley, visiting nearby vineyards for tastings while his passengers attended meetings. He retired as a driver in 1996. Tardieu was a state employee who spent his free time in the vineyards of the Rhône Valley and elsewhere, and in 1996 decided to create Tardieu-Laurent in Lourmarin, in his native Provence. He teamed with Burgundy merchant Dominique Laurent, who had started the Dom. Laurent négociant firm, later renamed Dominique Laurent, in 1989. Wine Spectator dated their founding of Maison Tardieu-Laurent in the Rhône Valley to 1994. Tardieu first ran the business from an office above the kitchen of his home in the village of Lauris; a new office and modern cellar opened in early March 2001. From 1998 Laurent and Tardieu also worked as consultants to the Corbières trade organization in the Languedoc, and in the 2001 harvest they made wine for 10 Corbières clients, sold under the labels of those wineries. The house's legal notice names the publisher of its website as Maison Tardieu Laurent / Famille Tardieu, with Michel Tardieu as director of publication.

• 1989: Dominique Laurent started the Dom. Laurent négociant firm in Burgundy.
• 1996: Michel Tardieu created Tardieu-Laurent in Lourmarin; Wine Spectator gives 1994 for the founding with Dominique Laurent.
• 1998: the Corbières trade organization brought Laurent and Tardieu on as consultants.
• Early March 2001: a new office and modern cellar opened, replacing an office in Tardieu's home in Lauris.

Michel and Michèle Tardieu have been joined in the business by their children, Bastien and Camille Tardieu. In the house's own words, the men are in the cellar and the women manage. In 2008 Michel Tardieu was winemaker and co-owner. In 2009 Michel Tardieu worked with Philippe Cambie. As of October 2018, Michel Tardieu and his son Bastien ran the Lourmarin winery.

• Family: Michel and Michèle Tardieu, joined by their children Bastien and Camille Tardieu.
• 2008: Michel Tardieu was winemaker and co-owner.
• As of October 2018: Michel Tardieu and his son Bastien ran the winery in Lourmarin.

Tardieu and Laurent worked as négociants, merchants who buy wine from growers and handle the aging, blending and bottling themselves. In 2008 the house owned no vineyards. Writing in October 2018, Jancis Robinson noted that the family depended on long-standing relationships with what they call their 'partner vignerons' throughout the Rhône Valley. The house's current product sheets name the sites behind each cuvée: Landonne, Lancement and Chavaroche for the Côte Rôtie Vieilles Vignes; Patou de Pleins Coteaux for the Cornas Vieilles Vignes; Début du Méal, Pierrelles, Diognières and la Croix for the Hermitage; Paton, Lys de Volan, Rochecourbe, Les Rivoires and Merlant for the Condrieu Vieilles Vignes; La Crau, Cabrières, Les Bedines, Les Guardioles, Bois Dauphin and Maupertuis for the Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes; and the Bas de la Crau, on sands, for the Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Spéciale. The Bandol Vieilles Vignes comes from Le Castellet, on clay-limestone soils. In 2009 about 60 percent of production came from the Southern Rhône and about 40 percent from the Northern Rhône.

• Négociant model: wine bought from growers, with aging, blending and bottling done by the house; no vineyards owned in 2008.
• Northern Rhône sites include Landonne and Chavaroche (Côte Rôtie), Patou (Cornas) and Début du Méal (Hermitage).
• Southern sites include La Crau, Cabrières and Bois Dauphin (Châteauneuf-du-Pape) and Le Castellet (Bandol).
• 2009: about 60 percent of production from the Southern Rhône, about 40 percent from the Northern Rhône.

In 2009 the reds were blended during their lengthy élevage and racked back into used oak, minimizing the overt influence of new barrels, with the amount of destemming varied by wine. The current product sheets show a range of regimes. The Côte Rôtie Vieilles Vignes is made with 100% whole bunches and spends 12 months in new and one-wine barrels of Tronçais and Allier oak, then 12 months in Stockinger foudres. The Cornas Vieilles Vignes spends 24 months in new and one-wine barrels, with three quarters of the fruit not destemmed. The Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes spends 12 months in one-wine barrels and then 12 months in foudre, with half the fruit not destemmed; the Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Spéciale is made entirely from whole bunches and spends 12 months in two- and three-wine barrels, then 12 months in foudre. The Les Becs Fins Rouge is fully destemmed and aged 12 months in concrete vats. The Condrieu Vieilles Vignes is fermented and aged for 9 months in new, one- and two-wine barrels. The Hermitage, Cornas Vieilles Vignes, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes and Bandol Vieilles Vignes are bottled without fining or filtration; the Condrieu Vieilles Vignes is unfined and lightly filtered.

• Côte Rôtie Vieilles Vignes: 100% whole bunches; 12 months in new and one-wine barrels, then 12 months in Stockinger foudres.
• Cornas Vieilles Vignes: 24 months in new and one-wine barrels; three quarters not destemmed.
• Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Spéciale: 100% whole bunches; 12 months in two- and three-wine barrels, then 12 months in foudre.
• Les Becs Fins Rouge: fully destemmed; 12 months in concrete vats.

The range is presented in two groups. The Northern Rhône group includes Saint-Joseph and Saint-Joseph Vieilles Vignes, Crozes-Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage Vieilles Vignes and an organic Crozes-Hermitage, Saint-Péray Vieilles Vignes, Condrieu Vieilles Vignes, Hermitage and Hermitage Vieilles Vignes, Cornas, Cornas Coteaux and Cornas Vieilles Vignes, and Côte Rôtie and Côte Rôtie Vieilles Vignes. The Southern Rhône and Bandol group includes Les Becs Fins in white and red, Côtes-du-Rhône Nobles Origines (formerly Guy Louis) in white and red, Côtes du Rhône Cuvée Spéciale, Rasteau Vieilles Vignes, Vacqueyras Vieilles Vignes and an organic white Vacqueyras, Gigondas and Gigondas Vieilles Vignes, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes and Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Spéciale, an organic Tavel Vieilles Vignes, and Bandol Vieilles Vignes. The Côtes-du-Rhône Nobles Origines 2024 blends 65% Grenache, 25% Syrah and 10% Mourvèdre from Lirac, Rasteau, Séguret, Beaumes de Venise and Cairanne; as Côtes du Rhône Guy Louis in 2007, it was a 60/40 Grenache/Syrah blend from Cairanne, Plan de Dieu, Roaix, Courthézon and Rasteau. The Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes 2023 is 80% Grenache noir, 15% Mourvèdre and 5% Syrah, and the Cuvée Spéciale 2023 is 99% Grenache. The Gigondas Vieilles Vignes 2024 is 90% Grenache with 5% each of Mourvèdre and Syrah. The Bandol Vieilles Vignes 2023 is 95% Mourvèdre and 5% Grenache. The Côte Rôtie Vieilles Vignes, Cornas Vieilles Vignes and Hermitage are 100% Serine and Syrah, and the Condrieu Vieilles Vignes is 100% Viognier.

• Northern Rhône: Côte Rôtie, Cornas, Hermitage, Condrieu, Saint-Joseph, Crozes-Hermitage and Saint-Péray.
• Southern Rhône and Bandol: Les Becs Fins, Côtes-du-Rhône Nobles Origines, Rasteau, Vacqueyras, Gigondas, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Tavel and Bandol.
• Côtes-du-Rhône Nobles Origines was formerly named Guy Louis.

In 2008 Wine Spectator characterised the wines as dark, rich and heavily toasted, emphasizing fruit and power, aged in 100 percent new oak and typifying the modern style. In 2009 James Molesworth of Wine Spectator wrote that those who dismiss the wines for their 'apparent hyper-modern profile are missing out', adding: 'This is not a winery that simply slaps new oak on all its wines to dress them up for maximum impact.' Writing in October 2018, Jancis Robinson called the house 'one of the Rhône's most accomplished négociants' and wrote that 'old vines, large oak and a bit of whole-bunch fermentation' characterise its wines. Michel Tardieu holds that tasting without pause in the cellars of the best winemakers is how one learns the culture of great wine, which he sees as essential to understanding wine and terroir.

• 2009: the reds were racked back into used oak during élevage, minimizing the overt influence of new barrels.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://tardieu-laurent.fr/, https://tardieu-laurent.fr/en/la-maison-2/, https://tardieu-laurent.fr/en/savoir-faire/, https://tardieu-laurent.fr/nosvins/range-2422G1VABE-vallee-du-rhone-nord, https://tardieu-laurent.fr/nosvins/range-2423G1VBHQ-vallee-du-rhone-sud-bandol, https://tardieu-laurent.fr/mentions-legales/, https://tardieu-laurent.fr/nosvins/product-PW1RHF-maison-tardieu-laurent-hermitage-2023, https://tardieu-laurent.fr/nosvins/product-UW2ITF-maison-tardieu-laurent-cornas-vieilles-vignes-2024, https://tardieu-laurent.fr/nosvins/product-2AFDBF-maison-tardieu-laurent-cote-rotie-vieilles-vignes-2024, https://tardieu-laurent.fr/nosvins/product-16PW7F-maison-tardieu-laurent-chateauneuf-du-pape-vieilles-vignes-2023, https://tardieu-laurent.fr/nosvins/product-PW81BF-maison-tardieu-laurent-chateauneuf-du-pape-cuvee-speciale-2023, https://tardieu-laurent.fr/nosvins/product-LQR62F-maison-tardieu-laurent-condrieu-vieilles-vignes-2025, https://tardieu-laurent.fr/nosvins/product-Y0W16F-maison-tardieu-laurent-bandol-vieilles-vignes-2023, https://tardieu-laurent.fr/nosvins/product-2VK82F-maison-tardieu-laurent-cotes-du-rhone-nobles-origines-ex-guy-louis-2024, https://tardieu-laurent.fr/nosvins/product-G8L20F-maison-tardieu-laurent-les-becs-fins-rouge-2025, https://tardieu-laurent.fr/nosvins/product-28V4KF-maison-tardieu-laurent-gigondas-vieilles-vignes-2024. Secondary sources: Wine Spectator (William Echikson, 26 April 2001, https://www.winespectator.com/articles/luberon-wineries-835; Per-Henrik Mansson, 14 December 2001, https://www.winespectator.com/articles/top-burgundy-and-rhone-specialists-make-more-affordable-wines-in-south-of-france-21107; James Molesworth, 23 October 2008, https://www.winespectator.com/articles/syrah-standouts-part-ii-4421; James Molesworth, 19 March 2009, https://www.winespectator.com/articles/the-2007-tardieu-laurent-wines-16045) and Jancis Robinson (22 October 2018, https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/tardieu-laurent-2017s-rare-jewels). Last verified 2026-10-14. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.