The Côtes du Vivarais lie on the right bank of the Rhône in the south of the Ardèche, on a limestone plateau above the gorges of the Ardèche river, at 200 to 350 metres. It is the northern edge of Mediterranean France: the garrigue and the olive trees are there, but the nights are markedly cooler than in the Rhône valley proper, and the harvest comes in two or three weeks later than at Avignon.

That freshness is what the appellation, granted in 1999 after decades as a VDQS, is built on. Grenache and Syrah make reds and rosés that are light, peppery and quick to drink, with Cinsault permitted, and the whites come from Grenache Blanc, Clairette and Marsanne. Rosé accounts for roughly half the production. The vineyard is small and much of it is worked by cooperatives in villages that see far more visitors for the gorges and the Chauvet cave than for the wine.