Philippe Bernard & Norge Larson

The story of Château Bois d’Arlène is truly one of a kind! It all starts with a long-standing friendship between Norge Larson (a physicist and oceanographer based in Seattle) and Philippe Bernard (nurseryman and winemaker in Beaumes-de-Venise). For nearly 20 years, Norge and his wife Arlène spent every summer in Vacqueyras, met Philippe — who was making wine at Domaine de la Ligière — and, as a fun detail, came back year after year to stay in his guesthouse! In 2013, Norge and Arlène took the crazy leap of buying a ruined sheepfold with abandoned vines… let’s go! A long-term project began, with 80% of the 10 hectares replanted (organically farmed from the start), leading today to a beautiful diversity of grape varieties. Philippe now leads both vineyard work and winemaking, carried out with a thoughtful approach: eco-grazing, cover crops, gravity-fed work, no additives apart from occasional sulphur… a beautiful success for the two friends and even more so for us !