The Rhône Valley Fruits

The most important orchard of France

From the spring to the autumn, the orchards treat us with cherries, apricots or peaches … Before tasting the fruits, your eyes can enjoy the beautiful colours of our countryside : orange, pink, yellow, green, white … Then, the season starts with cherries : red and juicy, this is the burlat cherry !

When the apricots arrive, the summer can start ! The Bergeron is the most classic apricot and you can understand why : with this orange flesh, the Bergeron is born here, in the Rhone Valley. Sweet with a little acid, the Bergeron is celebrated during the Apricot Fest at Bren, little village of the Drôme des Collines.

Speaking of the Drôme des Collines, you have to know that this area is the first producer of stone fruits ! As a natural dessert, cook as jam or for pastries, you will be crazy about its ! You can also enjoy some peaches or nectarines. With its sweet yellow or white flesh, it will rock your world !

Don’t forget about the vine peach with its slightly red flesh! This fruit was first cultivated at the end of every rank of vineyards. As delicious as helpful for the winegrower, vine peach are delicious during the grape harvest !

Those delicious fruits are hand collected by seasonal workers (the first summer job of many students !) and sell all over France and Europe. But in Ardèche Hermitage, no need to go somewhere else ! You can buy directly from the producers ! Discover where you can buy fruits of the Rhone Valley in Ardèche Hermitage !

Where can you buy fruits of the Rhone Valley ?

Our first good tip is to go to some “Baraques à fruits” ! Those are ephemeral shop along the road National 7, in Drome, and in the National 86, in Ardèche. Producers sell directly their harvest to the customer. You can easily find them : several signs along the road will indicate you where to stop. In addition, some producers sell just in front of their filed or estate ! Enjoy a fruit pick up only few hours before you buy it !

The second good tip is to stroll on the market place ! Every day of the week, you can find a producer market in our area ! Make your choice, there is a lot of possibilities. Take your time and meet the producers. They will be more than happy to help to choose the fruits and explain all the work behind your apricot or peach.

If you want to keep the taste of your holidays in Ardèche Hermitage, our producer also make derivative products. Jam, marmalade, chutney, juice or jar are made for you ! It’s the perfect solution to avoid a disaster into your subcase : like this, your apricots are already cook and cruch in a jar, not squeeze into your bag ! ;)

Our fruits are biotifull !

We are proud to say that the department of Drôme is the most important area where the farming is biological ! Thank to the hard work of our producer, you only have the good taste of the fruits ! You can easily find biological products thanks to the white and green logo.

To sum up !

• In order to find the “baraques à fruits : drive along the orchards or follow the signs ! You can also come to the tourist office and ask our help !
• The markets are the place to be !
• Go meet the producers directly into their estates.

To conclude, some ideas to make your journey tasty :  think about the fruit juice made by Nectardéchois, in Pailharès, the orchards of Bernard Dorel in Erôme or la Ferme des Pins in Montchenu, jams from la Ferme des Genets and Entre 2 Champs.