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The "Haute Vallée de l'Orb", or Upper Orb Valley, lies in the foothills of the Massif Central.
The southern sector is made up of gneiss and mica schist. This is the Caroux Massif, which was the southern part of the Hercynian mountain chain. Over the centuries, men created the terraces on which the vines are planted, forming a unique landscape.
The geology of the northern sector is extremely complex. This is a transitional zone through which the Cévennes Fault runs and in it, you can find traces of all the major tectonic movements that shaped our continent.
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It is the only winegrowing region where, within a radius of ten kilometres, you can find virtually every soil type (from the Primary to the Quaternary period) on which vines are grown in France - schist, gneiss, granite, basalt, sandstone moraine, clayey limestone and gravely alluvium, to name a few examples.
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This diversity of soils in the valley enables the winegrowers to plant the different varieties on the soils that suit them best.
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