René-Jean Dard and François Ribo are two winegrowers who founded their Dard et Ribo estate in Mercurol, north of Valence in 1984. They met while studying at the Beaune wine school in Burgundy and then began to test their talents on a small area of just 1 hectare of vines belonging to Jean-François Dard. The adventure seems to have seduced them and the Dard et Ribo estate is now made up of 9 hectares of vines, with plots in AOC Saint Joseph, Crozes Hermitage and Hermitage. Jean-René Dard is more focused on customers and their reception, while the discreet François Ribo prefers to be in the vineyards. The Dard et Ribo estate is cultivated biodynamically and the production of wines is always homogeneous, with a lot of work on the parcel vintages on the principle that each vintage must be linked to its terroir. The vines are located around three prestigious appellations: Saint-Joseph, Crozes-Hermitage and Hermitage. On granite in the cradle of Saint-Joseph between Mauves and Tournon as well as in Saint-Jean de Muzols; a few acres of Hermitage and superb terroirs in Crozes Hermitage on the hills of Larnage and Crozes Hermitage, which stand out from the plain of Chassis by the presence of granite and kaolin (white clay). At the Dard & Ribo estate, the methods have been identical for 35 years, non-interventionist, around 10% of the grapes are trodden (to obtain the juice necessary for the start of fermentation), no input, slow decantation of the juices, therefore no filtration, no sulphur. The estate has an old press, bought from Priory Roch in 1992, and still uses it.