VOLCANIC ORIGIN: the 1st label for volcanic wines
Discover the fascinating world of wines from volcanic terroirs!
About us
VINORA is a nonprofit association based in Clermont-Ferrand that federates a community of winemakers, distributors, research organizations and outreach agencies, with backing from major public-sector and private-sector partners.
Vinora grew out of a desire to revive the savoir-faire of local Auvergne winemakers who ‘tread basaltic soil under the gaze of volcanoes’. Its mission is to foreground the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region’s volcanic vineyards, facilitate the economic development of this rising value chain, and fire up value recognition for volcanic-origin wines among the general-public audience.
It started with a wine fair...
In 2020, Vinora held the first World Volcanic Wine Fair that brought together forty-odd French and international wine and vine growers and several hundred wine professionals at the Vulcania theme park at the foot of the Chaîne des Puys.
...and grew into scientific method
Vinora drew fresh impetus from this wildly successful first volcanic wine fair to press further ahead in moves to promote volcanic wines, and thus launched the very first scientific characterization of volcanic wines, in partnership with leading specialists such as Christian Coelho, associate professor at the VetAgro Sup—Lempdes campus and the University of Burgundy institute of wine and vine science—Dijon campus, and Benoit Marsan, research professor in wine chemistry at Université du Québec à Montréal, alongside John Szabo, Master Sommelier, journalist, and world-leading expert in volcanic wines.
Vinora has also been working for many months on the creation of a volcanic wine label to raise the profile of these exceptional wines.
Our story
The first VINORA World Volcanic Wine Fair held at Vulcania on 30th January 2020 drew more than 500 wine professionals and 50 wine journalists from France and around the world—and even counted John Szabo in attendance.
This event consciously reached out to all of the world’s volcanic vineyards, and lifted the Auvergne to leading volcanic vineyard region in France, and for legitimate reason—with its unique typicity forged in the Chaîne des Puys (80 volcanoes) foothills, where 400 hectares of vines grow on basaltic scree, peperites, pozzolan and pumice stone, with its international outlook, and with recognition for its outstanding landmark terroir staged in the recently UNESCO World Heritage-listed Chaîne des Puys–Limagne Fault tectonic arena.
