Background
From Aiguebelle to Eyguebelle
Manufacturing plant liqueurs
Manufacturing fruit liqueurs
Manufacturing cordials
Quality seals
Prizes awarded
Legal definitions of cordials
Legal definitions of spirits

A little history

In the middle of the 18th century Father John developed a recipe from which the monks in the Cistercian abbey of Aiguebelle were able to manufacture small quantities of a liqueur from a compound of plants.
This recipe was inspired by a much older know-how and is based on Brother Benedictus of Nuraie's elixir of life which goes back to 1239.

During the 1930s, the purchase of the Deleuze distillery in the Ardèche, in Villeneuve de Berg, marked the beginning of the development of plant liqueur manufacturing and the recipes which were finely perfected are still being used today.
(The Deleuze distillery was particularly famous for the manufacture of COIRON, a powerful plant-based liqueur).

Mastery of plant blending and the use of sugar in the manufacture of liqueurs enabled the Aiguebelle distillery to diversify into the manufacture of fruit and plant-based cordials during the 1950s.
The distillery's reputation grew under the impetus of Father Aelred and went considerably beyond the boundaries of Provence, until the 1980s.
However, after Father Aelred's departure, the company went through a difficult period resulting in its activities coming to an end.
The company was then passed to a secular company called Eyguebelle which carried on the tradition and continued to manufacture cordials and liqueurs using the same recipes and know-how as the monks of Provencal Drôme.